The Amulet of Ilse
by Seul Desir
Summary: Lara, Bryce, Alex, Hillary... End of the world? No Problem.
1. Déjà vu

She felt herself falling. Her mind's pace was too fast for that of her legs, and she tumbled into oblivion. Screaming, she tried to pull herself back onto her feet, but her body felt as heavy as solid steel, and she was withering underneath the tremendous weight. This would be the end, and she could taste the bitterness.  
  
'Today is the fifteenth of May.'

'Would it make it easier for you, on more familiar ground, if I killed you now?'

'The clock is the key, Lara.'  
  
A horrified gasp escaped the troubled lips of the woman, clad in white, as she awoke for the second time that evening. The voices from her past flooded her overflowing mind and nearly drove her over the brink of insanity. Lara Croft ran her trembling fingers over her face, which had broken into a cold sweat again. Her mind reeled questions at her that she was unable to answer, and she begged the intruders to stop.  
  
Lara's last dilemma, with the Triangle of Light, had been over for nearly a year now, but the thoughts still tormented her. They scared her more than anything she had ever faced before. She had never had nightmares about her other adventures, so why this one? Why was this occurrence the only one that could penetrate her mind? She had been through so many ordeals in her life, and no more than a glint of satisfaction had ever invaded her dreams.

But these dreams that she had, they weren't dreams. They were more than nightmares. Each one burned her skull while she slept, and she felt like screaming until it all just went away. She was never successful in sleeping without a tormenting thought. Almost every night, she would dream horrible reoccurrences, most of them she couldn't even remember, but the ones that she could, tore at her heart, soul, body, and mind.

It was like an assassination attempt that she had bestowed upon herself- would that be considered suicide?  
  
Lara lifted herself off of her bed and made her way to the door of her room, and walked into the hallway. Her feet padded softly on the cold floor as she made her way to the grand staircase that would lead her down into the main room. This scenario reminded her of the night that she had found the clock- the one object that had corrupted the minds of many, but the one thing that she needed to see her father again. Her heart wrenched inside of her as her thoughts dwelled on her father.

_That damn Powell, _Lara sneered.

She had held the power to bring her father back, the very power that would make her content, happy, and safe, but she was denied in using it, and it all turned out for the best for everyone else; Lara would remain the one alone as always.  
  
She walked idly forward and pressed the code numbers on the pad next to the front door. The warm night air greeted the goddess in white as she quietly left the house, toward the tent where her father's memorial stone lay. She kneeled down to it as she had done so many times before, and touched the engraved stone. The flowered necklace she had placed there a year ago was sufficiently wilted, and she rolled it in her fingers absently. This whole scene had become routine for Lara in the past months. She was beginning to suspect insomnia, but Hillary had already noticed this question and had said:

"Healing is a process."

His few words had comforted her in an odd way, but she wanted, needed so much more. No, all she wanted was her father back. This, Powell had used against her. He had succeeded in penetrating her, but in the end, it was his downfall. Lara smiled at the stone.

"I miss you Daddy. I could not get back the time that was stolen from us, but I will never forget you."  
  
Lara stood up and looked up at the sky. She closed her eyes briefly and let the warm air embrace her. Satisfied, Lara made her way back to the manor. She cocked an eyebrow as she passed Bryce's "area" and sighed. She almost felt the urge to go wake him up and demand why he must live in a little tin trailer, but she resisted and walked into her house, only to be met with the sound of a clock.  
  
Lara's eyes wandered over the dark room.

"Another clock?"

She inched her way to a side-table and drew out a long blade. Steadily, she followed the noise. The sounds amplified as she padded past the stairs, into another hallway. Cautiously, Lara snuck through the hall until she saw the source of the ticking. Inside of a room, almost vacant of furniture, a disheveled man hunched over, Lara assumed, the clock she had heard. Stealthily, Lara moved toward the intruder with unkempt hair. Now close enough to attack, she grabbed the man's left arm, twisting it back, and with her other hand, she pressed the blade against the man's throat.

"Shit!" The intruder managed to gasp as he clumsily toppled over, causing Lara to lose her balance as well.  
  
The captive squirmed, attempting to get free, but Lara trapped him between her legs, and forced the blade back onto his neck.

"What are you doing in my house?" Lara asked, not budging body or blade.

"Lara! Lara let go! It's me, Alex!"

Lara grabbed the man's collar of his shirt and threw him against the opposite wall; the force immediately made him topple over again. The moonlight that shone through the panes of glass illuminated the man's face. It was, indeed, Alex West. Lara didn't see a situation change- intruder, Alex, same thing.

"What are you doing in my house?" She repeated silkily. Lara watched as Alex righted himself, his whole body now illuminated in the light.

"I..." Alex began. He couldn't seem to get the words out. Lara raised her eyebrows and the dagger, both threateningly. Alex gulped and mumbled something inaudible.

"Excuse me, what was that?" She watched Alex fidget as he attempted to speak.

"I... I heard you had an... an amulet..." He wouldn't continue. His eyes, which had been cast down, finally looked up. He realized that as soon as his last word escaped, Lara had turned around and calmly left the room.  
  
It took a minute, but Alex took into consideration of where he was and exactly whom he was dealing with.


	2. The Fine Line

Frantically, Alex ran out of the room. He quickly hopped up the stairs in the direction he thought Lara had gone, and sharply turned the corner only to be met with the barrel of a gun. Instinctively, Alex raised his hands in the air and stood, awaiting his fate.

"I told you, Alex, never cross me."

He heard Lara speak to him, but his thoughts were on the 9mm poised in the air, aimed at his head.

"Lara, it was a stupid thing to do, it really was. I'll never do it again."  
  
"I don't trust you." Lara said matter-of-factly. Her body showed no signs of sympathy either. Alex was in pure panic.  
  
"Lara, I'm not asking you to trust me. I mean, that would be nice, but right now, I'm asking you to spare me!" His eyes were large and full of angst; he heard the hammer click. Lara had disarmed the gun. Alex thought he had never heard a sweeter sound. He un-squinted his eyes and saw a slender finger pointed at him.

"Spare you? I've spared you enough. Now, why don't you spare me from your pettiness?"  
  
"Lara, please." Alex stepped toward her, and the gun appeared again.

"This conversation is over." She spat at him as she watched him look over her gun. She was beginning to tire of him, she felt as if she could sleep, for the first time in months, and he was an obstacle that she just couldn't get to move.

"Lara," she glared back at him as he spoke to her again, "don't be silly. We both know that you wouldn't shoot me."

He looked her straight in the eye, immediately wishing that he hadn't done so.

"Is that so?" Lara asked too sweetly. Terrified as he was, Alex kept his ground firm.

"Yeah," He replied.

Almost in an instant, he heard the click of the hammer, and a treacherous pain in his right leg forced him to cry out in shock. His body slumped to the floor as two slamming doors were heard: Hillary's and the front door where Bryce had entered.  
  
Hillary, armed with his shotgun, inspected the area before he carefully ran over to Lara. Bryce did likewise, but without the cautiousness.

"Blimey, Lara! What the devil happened?" Bryce and Hillary gaped at Alex as he clutched his wounded leg.

"Mr. West here thought he was going to steal the Amulet of Ilse."

Hillary glared at the quivering Alex and then back to Lara, "So you shot him?"

Lara heard Bryce titter. "Bloody hell! Hillary, he knows not to steal from Lara! After the prayer wheels and all, you'd think he wouldn't try to steal the... uh... What's that again? Amulet of..."

"Ilse," Lara stated shortly.

"Ah, yes." 

illary rolled his eyes as Bryce pretended he knew what was going on.  
  
Now everyone's attention was on the sobbing Alex West.

Hillary sighed. "I suppose we'll need to be getting that bullet out of him."  
  
"Yeah," Bryce agreed, "and then let Lara finish him off!" Lara glared at Bryce, but couldn't help but crack a small smile at her goofy friend.

"Now Lara," Hillary reappeared around the corner, "I suggest that you get some sleep now that the burglar has been caught. We'll leave him for you to deal with in the morning." Lara nodded at Hillary as he turned back around the corner to drag Alex to a different room.

"Yeah, and remember," Bryce almost whispered, "Simon's in the office." He gave her a mischievous wink and skipped down the stairs and out the front door.  
  
Lara made her way back to her room. "Why was he after the amulet?" She wondered this until she finally fell into the first dreamless sleep she had had in months.  
  
The next day brought the smell of waffles and Bryce's unmistakable techno music. Lara opened her eyes and stretched as she pulled herself out of bed. She placed the dagger that she always slept with underneath her pillow and gracefully made her way downstairs for breakfast.

"Ah, good morning, Lara! And what a lovely morning it is."

Lara smirked as Hillary pulled out a chair for her at the huge dining table. Hillary always greeted her the same way every morning. A cheery smile followed by his "trademark" saying was more than routine. Though Lara had abolished all routine in her life, for fear of boredom and confinement, she enjoyed the daily "good mornings" that Hillary said to her after she awoke.  
  
"Where's that bloody West?" Lara heard as the door slammed and the ever-charming Bryce entered the house.

Hillary stomped around the corner. "When you're quite finished at the circus, master Bryce, would you please sit down for breakfast?"

Lazily, Bryce obeyed and Lara laughed at him. "You know not to disrupt Hillary's meals, Bryce!"

The tech smiled sheepishly. "But you know I can't resist! He just gets so bloody miffed!" Bryce threw up his hands innocently just as a man stumbled around the corner.

The room fell silent, and the smile on Lara's face faded as Alex escorted himself into the dining room and sat at the farthest point from Lara. Hillary entered the room with plates hanging from his like ornaments on a Christmas tree.

"Ah, Mr. West, nice to see you moving again." He stole a quick glance at Lara. "You're just in time for breakfast." Hillary's voice was usually dripping with cheeriness, but now it was adorned with sarcasm. Lara was too fixated on Alex to comment on Hillary's change.  
  
The meal commenced in silence. About ten minutes after a few compliments to Hillary, and asking for more to drink and such, Lara rose from the table. In respect, Hillary rose from his chair, nudging Bryce in the ribs, hinting for him to do the same. Only stopping from devouring his food for a moment, Bryce quickly stood up halfway, then promptly sat back down and began shoveling Eggs Benedict into his black hole of a mouth again, much to Hillary's chagrin.  
  
As soon as Lara left the room, Alex pushed himself out of his chair and limped in her direction.

"I told you so, didn' I?" Bryce's words were muffled with egg, sausage, and muffin.

"Told me, Master Bryce? I believe I informed you that..."  
  
"Well, it doesn't matter now."  
  
"No, sir," Hillary nodded in agreement.

"Well, better get to work!" Bryce exclaimed heartily as he rubbed his satiated stomach.

Hillary rolled his eyes. "You call fiddling with your tinker-toys work?" Bryce looked up at Hillary with wide eyes filled with shock.

"The art, which is tinkering, takes great skill, oh master of maids!"  
  
"Why you..." Hillary started, but Bryce ran out of the room. Hillary called after him:

"I'll have you know that I am not a maid! And I resent the fact that you would imply that! Cleaning is an art. It takes great skill in detecting mold, scrubbing floors..."  
  
Bryce tuned out the rambling butler as he entered the office, or the "Tinkering Room" as he so lovingly called it. He scanned the room with his hands on his hips and a broad smile on his face. In a corner, Simon was displayed in his full glory, his body propped up by his two bottom legs, as his other four posed menacingly. Bryce took a lot of pride in Simon. It was his first robot that stood a chance against an angry Lara with firearms. Bryce walked more into the room and sat in his chair.

"Okay," he said, "what's on the agenda for today?"


	3. Breaking and Entering In the morning?

Bryce picked up a small spiral notebook and thumbed through the well-worn pages.

"Let's see," he sighed, "work on upgrading security system, change security codes, update software, fix Astin Martin, run anti-virus through system, work on Simon."

Bryce scratched his head. "Well, looks like you're my last priority, mate."

Bryce twiddled his thumbs anxiously. He so wanted to upgrade Simon. His goal was to make him so agile, so deadly, that Lara would be exhausted after every training session. He could imagine her, unarmed, underneath Simon, trying to push his blades and sawing mechanisms away from her face. She would be sweating profusely and her muscles, tensing to their extent. Bryce would be watching from the monitoring screen seeing Lara's arms finally wearing out. She would call for Bryce to disengage Simon, and Lara would at last be defeated.  
  
A huge grin spread across Bryce's face. He was left in a fantasy that he hoped would come true.  
  
Alex limped up the stairs and turned the corner, after he peeked around for the barrel of a gun.

"Lara! Lara, wait." He watched as she slowly turned around to face him.

"Alex, I'm through with you. You tried to steal from me again!" Alex winced as she spat out the last word.

"Lara, I know what I did was wrong, but just please, hear me out..." He got no further. The electricity went off, and they were left in the dark, with only the skylight shining down on the main room. Alex turned his head to scan his surroundings. He looked back at Lara; she wasn't there.  
  
"Lara!" He hissed. Something hard jabbed him in the stomach, throwing him off balance for a moment.

"Lara?" He looked in his hands and discovered a loaded M-16 and no sight of Lara.  
  
Lara raised her uzis and peeked around the column that hid her slender figure. She moved quickly as a huge explosion shattered the glass ceiling above the main room.

_Can't anyone just break down the front door?_ Lara thought as she crouched in the darkness.

She watched the figures, clad in black, as they hung from the ceiling on thick black cords. Lara counted them quickly- about sixteen in the air, and most likely, more on the way. The morning light shone through the shattered hole in the ceiling.

_Robbers in the middle of the day?_ Thought Lara as she shook her head in disapproval.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the room; she noticed about five others trying their best to hide in the minimal shadows. Now Lara's eyes darted to the office- no sign of Bryce, and the alarm had sent the glass barriers over the perimeter.

_Good, _Lara smirked, _now let's hope they don't have any putty_.  
  
Lara slinked from column to column until she was exactly opposite the office. She heard the dangling commander speak:

"Move out, men!" Then into a microphone, "No sign of Croft, sir."

Lara strained her ears to hear more. Silence followed the commander's words and then another man's voice cracked over the radio:

"Good. Have the men split up and find that amulet! Don't leave until it is in your possession! Any sign of Croft- kill her. Over and out."  
  
Lara felt her eyes grow large and her face reddened slightly. _So Alex did have a reason._

She shook the thought away from her mind and aimed her uzis for the closest dangling goon. She fired, sending bullets flying in a loud explosion. Her shots were greeted with spray of numerous bullets hitting every piece of wall, column, and banister in her general vicinity.

"Move men! Go, go, go! Take all risks; kill Croft!"

Lara rolled her eyes. _If I had a pence for every time someone said that..._

Her thought trailed off as she spotted the five men she had pinpointed out earlier slinking around the top of the stairs. Her uzis sounded once again, immediately catching the attention of the five goons. Lara ran from her hiding spot as the men discovered her. She heard two satisfactory thumps behind her as she made her way down the hall.

"Three down," she chuckled.  
  
Alex hid opposite the corridor from Lara and watched as five men charged up the stairs. He calmly moved to the adjacent corner and laughed softly to himself as two men fell to the floor and the other three ran after Lara, yelling obscenities. Alex silently crouched and inched his way toward the edge of the banister. He carefully took aim at a still-dangling goon and fired the M-16. The bullets scored and Alex caught a glimpse of the body go limp as he ducked back around a column. Below him, Alex could hear the men trying to break into Lara's office.  
  
Sensing an opportunity to make his way to the other side of the stairs, Alex cautiously hobbled past the columns until he reached the opening where the stairs connected. He carefully peered around the corner and looked toward the office. Was that a shoe?

_Bryce must still be in there!_

Alex smacked his forehead lightly with the palm of his hand, but something caught his eye through the cracks between his fingers.


	4. A Clue and the Wrongfully Accused

Bryce wiggled under a desk as the robbers approached.

_Bugger!_ He thought. _Let's hope they don't have any putty, or I'm a dead man._

Bryce looked around the room frantically in search of something he could use to defend himself in case the thieves did have the dangerous combination of Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil. Bryce hesitated in his thoughts:

_Okay, Lara only takes one pair of guns in and out of this room, no help there. Fiber optics are butters, what the devil can I..._ Bryce's eyes grew excited. _Simon! Simon can fight this time; Lara didn't train today, so he shouldn't malfunction!_

Bryce smiled, as this was the happiest moment of his life.  
  
He turned his attention back to the robbers. They did indeed have putty. Bryce should have been worried for his life, but a sly smile danced on his lips. Quickly, he jumped out from underneath the desk and into the closest chair. He heard the yelling of the men on the other side of the glass, but he paid no attention. This was Simon's moment of glory! If he couldn't defeat Lara, he could certainly be amused by the trivial attempts of the robbers to bring Simon down. If Simon was a match for Lara, these goons would be toast in a second!

_You're in barney, boys._ Bryce thought wickedly as he pecked rapidly at the keyboard in front of him.  
  
The smile on Lara's face never left her as she dodged in and out of hallways, confusing her pursuers. She hadn't had this much fun in months! Every once in a while, she would dart around a corner, wait there, and shoot one of the robbers down. They would be extremely shocked in their last moments, and Lara would laugh and run away from the now large group of people that followed her.

_Wow Lara, aren't you Miss Popular? You start with three and now there's thirteen!_  
  
Lara stopped for a moment; it was extremely quiet. Slowly, she backed into a corner behind a statue and crouched down. Three men ran in front of her shouting things like: "Where the hell did she go?" and "She was right here!"

Smiling to herself, she leaped out of her hiding place and fired a couple rounds into the bewildered goons. Lara stepped out more into the hallway and crouched over the dead bodies.

"Hmmm," she mumbled, checking the corpses for identification. None.

_Bugger,_ she thought. Lara carefully picked through the men's pockets and packs. She found nothing of value in the first two goons' but the third held something of interest.  
  
The chain dangled around her slender fingers as she inspected it. A small symbol on a round charm was the only decoration she could find. Quickly, she stuffed the find into her pocket and made her way back to the main hallway. Lara abruptly stopped as she heard a single voice just around the corner. In a flash, Lara was in the hallway, and her guns were aimed at...

"Alex! What are you doing down here?" Lara looked at the pathetic form of man in front of her. He was hunched a bit and his leg was wrapped with a thick bandage.

"Trying to find you!" Alex exclaimed. "Do you know how many people are in this house? There's about fifty!"

He looked past Lara and around the corner where she had just come from, then behind him.

"Okay, maybe thirty." He watched Lara as she cracked a small smile. "Ah, finally, a smile!" Alex chuckled as he watched it quickly fade.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you," Lara replied shortly.

Alex smiled. "The thought never crossed my mind."  
  
Hillary, with his prized shotgun in hand, snuck down the halls in search of any lost goons. His movements were almost comedic as he darted between the main hallway and any open doors that he spotted. After some time of carrying out this ridiculously vain procedure, Hillary made his way to the banister that overlooked the main room. He looked up at the shattered glass ceiling and let his eyes wander to the floor of the main room.

Debris and panes of broken glass littered the entire area, and blood still trickled from the lifeless bodies, which were suspended in mid-air. Hillary almost felt himself jump in his skin. He loved to clean, and there would be a plethora to scrub, and shovel out when this madness was finished.

Hillary was rather odd.  
  
Taking aim with his shotgun, Hillary fired two shells towards the intruders. Both missed. Hillary was never the best marksman in the land anyway. Quickly, he threw his body behind a column, and waited for the shower of bullets to cease before he took aim again. This time, he only shot once, but he still missed.  
  
Bryce only took his eyes off of the screen for a moment to notice a new type of bullet hitting the glass. The familiar sound of Hillary's shotgun missing a target was something that Bryce had gotten used to. Bryce looked up to the second level and noticed Hillary standing behind a column, almost ready to take aim again.

_Stick to cleanin', Hillary,_ Bryce sighed. _You'd kill more of 'em with a squirt bottle of Windex than you would with your shotgun._

Bryce chuckled to himself and began unfolding Simon's programming again. Soon, the intruders would break through the glass, and then the steel grates would come down. But they could still shoot Bryce through the holes; he had to work faster.  
  
Lara let Alex lean on her as they made their way through the long hallway back into the main room. She knew that this wasn't doing anything for his pride, but hers was bruised as well. Wrongly shooting someone was a major 'no-no' on Lara's list. She never liked to bestow pain on anyone that didn't deserve it, even if it was Alex West.  
  
Stepping in time with each other, Lara and Alex now stood opposite the support of the staircase, which contained the secret room where Lara had found the clock. Lara looked across the room and noticed that the robbers were about to use the Ammonium Nitrate on the glass barriers.

"Alex, you've got to stand on your own now, I've got to stop them- Bryce is still in there."

Alex nodded. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Lara looked at him with a glint of danger in her eyes. If looks could kill, Alex would be six feet under.  
  
Alex positioned himself behind the banister of the staircase so he was able to see what Lara was doing. If she needed help, he would be her backup. He watched her as she stealthily made her way towards the goons. He tried not to notice too much, however, or it would be his head. Sensing his male nature taking over, Alex decided to give in.  
  
The way she moved was hypnotic. She was still clad in her nightgown, which was now adorned with tiny trickles of crimson blood. Alex tilted his head as he took in the full beauty of her. Her long hair cascaded down her back, not in her normal, tight braid, but in a simple flow, which accented the every curve of her body. Alex shook the thought out of his head.

_Give it up, Alex, she hates you._  
  
________________________________________________________  
  
*Barney (Rubble): Trouble  
  
*Butters: Useless


	5. Pawns in Play

Lara carefully tiptoed behind the five men that faced away from her. She almost laughed at how easy this was. But she had thought too soon. Gunshots sounded behind her; she rolled hastily away into the other corner of the stairs, but she was too close to the men that handled the putty now. Lara gritted her teeth and dove to her left, unleashing numerous bullets into the men that threatened to steal her amulet

Most of them fell, either wounded or dead, but two remained standing, and they quickly showed her exactly how much they wanted to kill her. A spray of bullets crashed into the walls just next to her ears as she pressed herself up against the wall adjacent to the glass walls of the office.  
  
Lara peeked around the corner, her view somewhat obstructed by a potted plant that Hillary had so "strategically" placed about a week prior. Lara's head instinctively snapped towards the sound of movement behind the pillar in front of her. She pushed the plant in front of her and placed her uzis between the huge leaves, awaiting any sign of a body part.

It came.

A leg was the first thing Lara saw, and she shot. She was rewarded with a cry of pain from her opponent, and a wicked smile formed on her face. Quickly, Lara rolled right, away from the plant and took advantage of the wounded assassin; she pulled the trigger, and her target hit the floor.  
  
No sooner had her opponent fallen, a knife was thrown in her direction.

"Well, that's a bit of a change."

Lara smiled and stood up, facing her attacker. "A bit off target, I'd say. Why don't I give you a lesson?"

In a second, Lara grabbed the knife off of the wall, twisted it in her fingers, and let it fly. The man stood there a moment, a stunned look on his face, then he slowly fell to his knees, his face smacking into the floor with a sickening crack. Lara grimaced. She looked sidelong at the men that were still working on breaking into the office. They paid no attention to her; it was like she wasn't even there. She realized just how important stealing that amulet was to them, and she wasn't about to let them take it.  
  
Alex watched from his position by the stairs as Lara gracefully handled the switchblade that was thrown at her. The throw had been poor. If it had been Powell, he would have caught her off-guard, and Lara would certainly be dead. But luckily, this assassin obviously wasn't recruited for his skill with a knife, and he had missed.  
  
Now Alex focused his attention on the remaining men that fiddled with the explosives. It had taken them far too long to set up the putty. Alex scoffed at the "army" that the employer had chosen to send.

_Where did he find them, out on the street?_

Alex decided to have more fun and he toyed with an English accent as he said:

_Dear, sir, I know you're on the crapper, but would you like to break into Lara Croft's high-security home in hopes to steal an amulet from her which you have no idea where it is?_ Alex laughed at his own corny joke.

"God save you all," he muttered.  
  
Lara calmly strolled towards the shaking men that handled the explosives. She appeared amused as she leaned against the still-intact glass barrier.

"Are you attempting to steal the Amulet of Ilse?" She asked the nearest goon.

He glanced, horrifically at her and continued to stick the explosives on the glass wall.

"You know," Lara chided, "you could just leave now, and I wouldn't kill you." She raised her eyebrows as she watched the three men look at each other with a small flicker of hope in their eyes.

"Then again," Lara chimed maliciously, her eyes becoming narrow and cat-like, "you could just blow up this glass wall, succeeding in tripping another alarm which will bring down a huge steel grate that you will have to melt, taking you about another, oh say, ten minutes, giving me ample time to make you feel even more nervous than you are right now; and when I'm good and ready," Lara paused for dramatic effect, "I'll kill you."

Lara ended with a sickly-sweet tone on her voice that foreshadowed a grotesque death. She smiled at the men and watched as sweat dropped off of their faces like a leaky faucet. She heard Alex laughing to himself from his hiding spot, making her crack another smile.  
  
Lara took another step towards the robbers. "So what will it be?" She asked.  
  
One man stepped forward and looked her in the eyes as the other two backed away, further into the main room. Lara watched as they backed up almost to the front door. Something was not right, and Lara put one foot behind the other, just in case she needed to get away. Lara looked down at the man that approached her. He was rather short, with dark chocolate hair and matching eyes. His coat that he wore bulged more than the others, and Lara didn't believe it was because he was fat. She cocked her head slightly at him and applied pressure to the back of her heel, ready to run.  
  
The man peacefully stopped in front of her and reached into his coat. Lara raised her guns, not trusting the man for a second. His hand reappeared with a small black device clutched in his death-white fingers. A tiny red button occupied the top, and Lara realized what this was.  
  
Alex watched in horror as the man that faced Lara pulled out a detonator.

"Lara! Get out of there!" He screamed at her, getting the attention of the two goons that were making their way out of the manor.

Alex aimed his M-16 at the fleeing men and brought them down, he didn't even watch them fall. He picked himself off of the floor and ran towards Lara.

"Lara, it's a detonator! Run!"  
  
Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. Lara turned her head to look at Alex, and then back at the suicidal pawn. In an instant, Lara turned on her heel and ran towards the stairs. An awesome blast sounded behind her, catapulting her into a couch. Debris fell from the ceiling, and the glass barrier, now shattered, flew in every direction. Shards of glass cut at Lara's face and rained down on her.

There was nothing she could do but wait. She felt helpless, and she knew that there was more to come.


	6. The Second Wave

Bryce groaned as he pried his body off of the hard floor that he seemed to be nailed to. The explosion had been great and it had sent him flying out of his chair and into a concrete wall. He held his throbbing head in his hands for a moment to recollect his thoughts; they all seemed to have been scattered in the explosion, but everything came rushing back to him.

_Simon!_

Bryce snapped his head in the robot's direction, causing his brain to swirl in his head. In the split second that it took him to turn Simon's way, Bryce's heart skipped a beat and he began to sweat heavily.  
  
An immense wave of relief swept over the tech's face as he spotted Simon; the robot was in perfect condition, still standing tall. Bryce looked up towards the ceiling, clasping his clammy hands together.

"Thank bloody-God!" He murmured, tears brimming in his eyes.

Clumsily, Bryce made his way over to Simon and opened his front panel. He pecked at the keys rapidly making Simon flinch abruptly- he was awake. Simon walked forward, ready to fight. Bryce and the Cheshire Cat never before looked so much the same.  
  
Alex opened his eyes. There was a musky haze over the entire room, and he blinked a couple times in a vain attempt to clear his surroundings. Small pieces of debris still fell from the ceiling, adding to the cluttered ground. Alex picked his way through the remains of the main room and the shattered glass, looking for Lara.

"Lara!" He coughed; the unmistakable taste of dust besieged his mouth. He began picking up the pieces of furniture that had flown everywhere during the blast, searching for any sign of Lara. Finally, he overturned a tattered chaise lounge and found her crumpled into a small ball. He hurriedly stooped down and reached for her hand.

"Please don't be dead," he whispered. His voice cracked as he spoke, showing the pain that he held inside. If she was dead...  
  
Alex felt a weak pulse in her wrist, and he watched as Lara's fingers uncurled from their tight grasp. She was white, and lied in a small puddle of her own blood. Alex's eyes softened as he pulled her into his arms. She whimpered softly as he touched the cuts on her face. He grimaced at the shards of glass that still clung to her skin. It pained him to see her like this; there were several long gashes in her beautiful face, and her arms were now black and blue from her harsh landing. He stroked her hair in a comforting way.

"Don't worry Lara, those bastards will pay."  
  
Lara felt her body being dragged across the floor. She felt like it was a mile before she stopped. And then strong chains bound her, and she did not posses the strength to break free. Then she realized- someone was holding her. Groggily, she lifted her head and found Alex West stroking her hair, soothingly really. She almost gave into the petting, but her independent side fought its way back to the surface. Lara moved away from Alex quickly and managed to stumble to her feet. She closed her eyes for a moment and held her temples, which throbbed maddeningly.

Lara stuck out her hands to balance herself, and then she took a deep breath and took in her surroundings. Every banister had at least twenty bullet holes in it, the glass barrier was in ruins, and her whole left side was completely soaked in blood. Lara reached down to her legs and ripped a decent amount of the material of her nightclothes off. She lifted her shirt partway to reveal a sizeable gash in her side and patted the material on it. She barely winced at the pain even though it did hurt, right now, she couldn't really feel any emotion. She left the cloth there and slowly lowered the end of her shirt. Only a brief look at Alex was allowed, and then there was the sound of hurried feet.  
  
Lara hastily searched for her uzis; she found one right where she had been, but the other, she could not find at all. A bang was heard, and the front door now lay on the floor. Lara grabbed Alex by his shoulder and lead him into the nearest hallway, narrowly missing a shower of bullets.

"Alex, I need to go down to the equipment room, all of my ammunition is down there. Can you hold up long enough down here?" She searched his eyes hopefully, and saw him slowly nod. She gave him a quick smile and ran down the hall and out of sight.  
  
Alex now found himself alone. He had watched Lara until she disappeared into the darkness, and now his attention was on the second wave of attackers; they were all tall and burly men. Alex could make out the ripples in their arms, and he noticed the thick bulletproof vests that they wore underneath their black attire.  
  
Rubbing the beads of sweat off of his face, Alex jumped back to shoot at the new intruders. He let the M-16 work it's magic for a couple seconds, but that was all that he was allowed, for an echo of bullets was sent his way, as well as three men. Alex ran as fast as he could with his bandaged leg down the hall, avoiding the entrance that Lara took. He didn't want Lara to be attacked when she was trying to get more ammo. Alex, now running out of breath, slammed into a door, knocking it open. He spun around and knocked the lock in place just as the first assassin reached the door.  
  
Swiftly, Alex let his eyes scan the room that he had entered; there were no windows, and no other doors. He was in trouble.  
  
Bryce leaped into the training room just as the huge men in black entered his line of sight. In his hand, however, was the command pilot for Simon. The deadly robot wouldn't attack until Bryce told it to. If he let Simon attack now, he would get gunned down. Best to wait until the grate was removed- that would only take about three minutes with the proper tools.  
  
Backing up until he was behind a large prop of Lara's training room, Bryce waited until he heard the familiar sound of a blowtorch and the clang of the steel grate hitting the floor. They were in. Bryce, who would normally panic in a situation like this, now felt a sense of bravery. He would save the amulet, and what was left of the manor. Being a 'tech-geek' would finally pay off! Bryce's train of thought derailed as he noticed a thief getting dangerously close to Simon.

_Come on,_ thought Bryce, _just a little further._

His patience paid off as about five goons walked into the room.

"Bingo," Bryce whispered. And with a simple touch of a small button, Simon sprung into action.


	7. Revenge of Alex and the Wrath of Simon

Lara sprinted down the long hall, away from Alex, and turned left as the hallway bent downward. Jumping down the whole flight of stairs, Lara made her way to the locked cabinet that she kept all of her guns and magazines in. Rapidly, she punched in the code numbers on the keypad and flung open the doors. She grabbed several magazines and another uzi to pair with the one she already had, and turning her head a moment, to make sure that she was alone, Lara moved to another large cabinet and removed her belt and holsters. Strapping them on quickly, Lara shoved her uzis in and slung a UT-15P over her shoulder.  
  
Lara looked at herself and made a mental note of all that she had. She also surveyed the damage done to her. Finally, Lara's eyes swept down to her feet; they were sprinkled with tiny pieces of glass and crusted blood, some was fairly new. So much adrenaline had been rushing through her, that she hadn't noticed that her feet were almost in shreds. All of the shards of glass that she had been running through obviously didn't agree with her bare feet. Carefully, she tiptoed over to a large cabinet and found a pair of long socks and a spare pair of boots to wear. 

\Plucking small pieces of glass off before she situated her sock and boots, Lara noticed that she had been leaving a trail of blood. It was hardly noticeable, but anyone that set their mind to finding her, they'd be able to. Listening intently for any sound or sign of movement, Lara nonchalantly slipped a Cobra Mini into the holder of her boot. She was not going to take any chances. These intruders would all die, Lara would make sure of it.  
  
Sweat dripped off of Alex as he tried to think of something to do. There was no way to escape; he only had one gun, and they had three. In a few seconds, he knew that the lock would break and his awful fate would come to claim him. Not hesitating, Alex bolted to the corner where the hinges of the door resided and waited for the intruders to enter. He didn't have to wait a moment longer. As soon as he had reached the corner, the door burst open to reveal three massive men loaded with semiautomatics. Alex focused all of his force on his right leg as he thrust it into the newly opened door. His action was rewarded with the painful sound of wood hitting one of the intruders' faces; Alex knew that he had broken a nose.  
  
West wasted no time. He jumped out of his hiding place and began to fire. He pumped round after round into the first two men, sending them backwards and out of the room. The huge bulletproof vests prevented most of the damage, but Alex was furious; it was almost like his rage powered the bullets as they went flying into the huge assassins. The distraught Alex watched as one of the men fell, defeated, but the other two came at him in a fury. Alex pulled the trigger on the M-16- it clicked- the sound he definitely did not want to hear.  
  
The two men in front of him smiled maliciously and reached for their weapons. Not taking a moment to think, Alex jabbed the closest intruder with his gun and brought the butt up into his face. The man yelled in anger and made a grab for Alex. West was too fast for this, however, and he turned on the other man that had to retrieve his gun from the floor. Alex ducked what would have been a powerful blow and smashed the butt of the gun into his attacker. It connected in a crack with his jaw, and Alex dove away from the strong arms that threatened to choke him. Breathing heavily now, Alex smashed his unloaded weapon into an intruders face, knocking him backward. Before the thief could get up again, Alex retrieved the fallen semiautomatic and let it ring. 

Bullets explode out of the barrel and connected with the assassins' faces, literally tearing them apart. Alex did not stop shooting. His anger was implanted in every bullet that he sent flying, and he could not think of anything else, but what they did to Lara. The familiar click of the trigger was the only thing that stopped Alex. He was now fuming with rage. He held nothing but the utmost hate for every man that intruded upon this house. They would all die, he would make sure of that. Alex dropped the unwanted gun onto the floor and picked up the other. He splashed through the crimson puddles of blood as he made his way out of the room, not feeling any regret for the act he had just committed.  
  
Bryce watched as Simon effortlessly picked up one of the goons and threw him, headfirst, into a concrete wall. Bryce cringed as he watched blood flow from the fracture, and spill onto the floor. Simon now engaged his sawing mechanisms and slashed at all of his attackers. All of the men became utterly frightened and began firing madly at the insane robot, but most of the bullets simply ricocheted off of him. Bryce could hardly contain his excitement, or his breakfast as his prized machine began thrashing about like a tornado, sweeping up everything in his path. The mechanical blades that he possessed cut through the men's arms, leaving deep gashes that exposed the milky white bones.  
  
Now more thieves came to try and destroy Simon, hearing the shrieks of pain from every room in the house. They all shot at him. An abundance of different weapons were used, but barely anything penetrated Simon's thick 'shell'. Bryce watched silently as Simon threw off attacker after attacker. Pinning one to the ground, he swiftly brought his mechanical leg down and crushed the man's skull. 

One daring man jumped on the blood- splattered machine and began hitting him with the butt of his gun. Bryce smiled. After Lara had done this almost a year ago, he had installed motion sensors on Simon's back. The reaction was devastating. Simon reared back and plunged the man into a wall, turning abruptly to finish him off. Another assassin's blood had been spilled.  
  
Thief after thief fell at the claws of Simon, but still, more rushed in. Bryce knew that Simon could take some more, but if he overheated, and Bryce was found, it would be all over. The hidden observer heard the crunching of glass from the main room and looked up to find Alex West, armed with a stolen semiautomatic, gunning down the intruders. Bryce felt the sudden urge to hurl as Alex shot five men down, each with a couple bullets to the head. 

_Blimey,_ Bryce thought, _West has gone mad._  
  
Wincing with her first steps, Lara cautiously made her way up to the main room. She could hear deafening screams of pain and gunshots of all pitches as she peeked around the corner that led into the main hallway. Turning right, she ran swiftly down the hall, but stopped at the sight that she held in her eyes.  
  
She saw flickers of metallic silver as it thrashed in the tech room; black figures were being thrown in every direction, and the once white walls were now painted in a thick red. Sensing that she would need a more powerful firearm, Lara holstered her uzis and reached for her UT-15P. Carefully, she picked her way through the rubbish towards the fight, or slaughter as it seemed to be at the moment. Jumping to her right, Lara ran forward and fired at every intruder she saw. 

Shot after shot connected with a body part of an assassin, and more blood was spilled. Lara could not believe how many dead men lied in the room that she was in. Some had their hands cut off, revealing bones that had been shattered into miniscule pieces. Others had their necks broken or their faces stomped on by Simon. It was not a pretty sight.  
  
Nevertheless, Lara kept shooting. Whether it was at the thieves in the tech room, or a lost goon that wandered into the room to join the fight, they all fell. After finishing off another assassin that was running down the stairs, Lara's head jerked to her front door. At least ten more men came crashing in, swearing and shooting at her. Lara barely dropped and rolled in time as every man that entered the house shot at her. 

This was no longer a fight for an artifact, but a battle of survival.  
  
Hillary scurried down a hallway upstairs towards the massacre. He barely got halfway to the stairs when deafening bursts sounded, and the banister next to him finally collapsed. The determined butler crept toward the stairs and quickly took aim at a goon just entering the manor. He shot and... connected! 

Hillary's mouth opened in shock, but quickly closed as bullets soared at his head. In a thump Hillary dropped to the ground and waited for the firing to cease. He had actually killed someone! Hillary patted himself on the back but replaced it quickly over his ears as the gunshots became almost intolerable.  
  
The butler, with newfound pride, crawled to a banister that hadn't completely been annihilated and stuck out part of the barrel of his shotgun. Aiming carefully at an intruder, he pulled the trigger. Hillary almost giggled as he watched his target slump to the floor. 

_This is almost as fun as cleaning!_ He exclaimed in his thoughts.  
  
Lara was almost out of breath. She was yet again hiding behind the potted plant and shooting at her attackers. None of them went to join the battle in the office; they all simply focused on her. 

_Just wonderful,_ Lara breathed as she sent more bullets flying. Her side was still bleeding, and she was beginning to feel weak. She hoped desperately that this was the last of them, she didn't know if she could make it any longer.  
  
Another knife was thrown in her direction. This time, Lara had to actually avoid it. The blade had been acutely on target; obviously this group wasn't fooling around. Lara slumped back into her position behind the plant. 

_I can't continue fighting them like this. They have the advantage, and I'm sure to lose._

Thinking quickly, Lara laid down with her eyes barely seeing past the humungous pot. She shot rapidly at her attackers' ankles, legs, everything below the waist. She sneered with each shot that she fired, gritting her teeth. She almost let out a cry of relief when every man fell to their knees in pain. None of them could stand, she made sure of that. Now, they would be sitting ducks, and was Lara ever grateful for that.  
  
Lara lifted herself up from behind the pot and sat for a moment. She took many needed breaths and tried to relax. No other intruders had shown their faces yet, meaning either there was another wave coming, or there were no more at all. Lara felt her head spin; she needed to get her wound properly bandaged and some sleep that she felt that she deserved. 

_No, Lara. No time to drift away now. They're still alive..._

She felt her stomach do a summersault as she grabbed at her side in anguish. Reluctantly, she gripped her firearm and prepared to attack again, but she saw Simon and Alex charge out of the office and Hillary run down the stairs. She sighed knowing that everything would be all right. Against her fighting will, she fell unconscious.  
  



	8. The Meaning

Alex trudged heavily up the stairway. His eyes felt like they were attached to twenty-ton anvils. Gripping the almost-destroyed banister, he forced himself to drag his weary body up the rest of the steps. He had never in his life been so exhausted, and never had he slaughtered so many people. West tried to shake the images out of his head, but he knew that they would reside in his mind forever.  
  
-- Previously --  
  
Alex stood over the ten men that Lara had so smartly crippled. He watched as Simon began doing his duty, bashing their heads together and occasionally cutting someone with his saws, splitting flesh and rupturing veins. Hillary had joined them, and he started disposing of the men as well. Alex thought that he had never seen the neat-freak butler in such a rage. It was a disgusting sight to view as Hillary, with his shotgun, shot in close range. 

Alex felt his stomach lurch inside of him as he watched the gruesome sight before him. He had never been one for anatomy, and in this single day, he had seen more of it than was necessary. It was almost like his sight had returned, and he was just now witnessing what he was doing- what he had done.  
  
Soon, each crippled intruder had fallen, and there was complete silence. Alex dropped his gun and took in what he had just done. In the room where he couldn't escape, he felt no emotions beside anger. Pure hatred ran alongside his blood, and he cared for nothing but killing everyone who threatened him- who threatened Lara, Bryce, Hillary. The thoughts of his friends dying were more than he could handle. To him, they were far more grotesque than the scene that lie before him. 

Now, his vision seemed to return to him, and grief washed across his face like a plague. He knew, inside, that what he did was the right thing. All of those men wanted to kill them. He had to protect himself. But a lingering thought in his mind would not go away. It whispered to him in the tiniest voice. Brushing the irritating thought away, Alex watched as Bryce ran up to him.  
  
Bryce tried not to look down at the massacre as he faced Alex. His face showed the utmost sympathy. He hadn't wanted to witness this bloodbath either, but it had to be done, and they both understood that. Bryce touched the command pad for Simon and disengaged him. No one spoke as they intently watched the robot, which had surely saved their lives, as he sank down. His claws reached his feet and he shutdown. A simultaneous sigh of relief escaped the lips of the three men as they realized that the attack was over. 

They had won, and everyone had survived.  
  
Bryce surveyed his surroundings quickly. "Where's Lara?" 

His question sunk into everyone as their thoughts became frantic. Hillary was the one to spot her. 

"There!" He shouted as everyone ran to the spot where she lied. Each man kneeled down to her as Hillary checked her pulse. 

"She's still alive," he breathed in relief. "But she's lost a lot of blood, we must get her bandaged up quickly."  
  
Alex watched as Hillary scooped up Lara into his arms and made his way for the same room where he had been taken when Lara shot him in the leg. 

Bryce stayed with him. "Alex," Bryce said, shaking some of his nerves. "We couldn't have done it without you. Maybe you should try to steal from Lara more often!" 

Alex smiled at him and shook his head. "No, Bryce. You know as well as I do that Simon kicked, rather, shredded everyone's ass in this house. I was just helping." 

West looked down at his feet and heard Bryce's voice again. 

"Well, I don't know about 'ass-shredding'," Bryce smiled, "but you certainly gave a few goons new makeovers." He grimaced as he remembered Alex coming in and pumping numerous bullets into the intruders' faces. Alex smiled in return and put his hand on Bryce's shoulder. 

"You're one hell of a tech." And with that, Alex made his way towards the stairs. His head spun, and he needed to sleep.  
  
-- Recent --  
  
Bryce made his way back to the Tinkering Room and skipped over several corpses towards his computers. The monitors were completely smashed and small pieces of "a", "k", and "r" from the keyboards were scattered around the floor. Bryce sighed heavily. At least it was only the monitors and accessories that were broken; the memory would still be intact- thank god. Bryce quickly went to the opposite side of the room and unlatched a tall, silver cabinet. Inside were assorted monitors, keyboards, disks, etc. Bryce picked a monitor and keyboard out, pushed the old ones to the floor, and hooked them up. 

"Ah," he mumbled as he sunk into his chair, which had stuffing coming out of it and half of the back missing. He quickly booted up the system and searched for information on The Amulet of Ilse.  
  
Bryce connected to the Internet. "Ah, the good 'ole Internet! There's nothing that it can't do." 

Bryce quickly typed in his object of concentration and pressed 'Enter'. Many sites came up, but not what he was hoping for. 

"Bloody hell! I didn't ask for Kelsie the stripper!" Bryce growled in frustration. It looked like it was going to be a long night.  
  
Alex finally made it to his room and nearly collapsed then and there. He would have if he didn't remember that he was completely soaked in blood. Stumbling around in the dark, he made his way to the bathroom and flicked on the switch. Carefully, so as to not upset his head, Alex removed his blood-soaked clothing and discarded it on the marble floor. With a couple turns of his wrist, he turned on the shower and let it envelope him. He made it hotter. 

He turned the knob again; it stopped, as it couldn't go any further. The water was now boiling, but West sunk to the floor of the shower, unnoticing. Small drops of sweat mixed with the steaming water dripped off of his face as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He tried not to let them, but the thoughts came and burned even more than the scorching water that poured over him.  
  
Bryce looked under every search engine he could find; nothing showed up for his query. He scratched his head in deep thought and mumbled to himself over and over again: 

"Ilse, Ilse, Ilse..." The name was familiar to him, but how? Where had he heard it before? He wasn't even sure that he had, but some nagging thought gave him an idea. Quickly Bryce searched under a new category. This had to be it. He clicked on the first link that he saw and navigated himself to where he needed to be. He furrowed his brow as he saw the definition: 

"Gods word?"  



	9. ILSE

Bryce stared blankly at the screen before him. Yes, he had heard Ilse before- it was a biblical name meaning God's word. The confused tech scratched his head, hoping that some answers would pop out of the newly itched areas. Bryce felt defeated, but he searched for the Amulet one more time.

Slowly, he typed in 'Amulet of God's Word'. Hundreds of search options appeared before him, things such as: Biblical psalms, advertisements for church sermons: "Let God save your soul every Sunday and Wednesday night!", and some scattered nonsense about plastic amulets for children.

Bryce sighed dejectedly. "There's got to be something." Nonchalantly, he scrolled down the page looking at the highlighted words that the search engine thought would be useful- none of them were. Until... 

_Wait,_ Bryce heard inside of him; he stopped sharply. He had found something.  
  
Alex woke up to a harsh burning sensation all over his body. He stirred abruptly and settled as he realized where he was- he had fallen asleep in the shower. How long had he been there? looking down at his bare feet, he saw that they had been 'pruning' for some time now. West hoisted himself up and turned the clear knob until the shower ceased to flow. Sliding the door away from him, he immediately was embraced with cold air.

His naked skin prickled, hoping to preserve heat as Alex walked out of the bathroom and towards his bed. Not bothering with clothes, West plopped down on the silken sheets and fell right to sleep.  
  
The worried butler held Lara gently as he carried her to the med room. Carefully, he placed her down on a high table and lifted her blood soaked shirt just enough to expose the worst of the damage. His eyes filled with sadness as he looked over his employer. Lara and him had become very good friends, and he couldn't bear to see her like this. In fact, he had never seen her like this! No one had ever wanted to kill her as badly as the recent intruders did. Something was definitely coming; Hillary could sense it, but he didn't like it.  
  
Gingerly, he ran his hand over her wounds with some antiseptic and washed away the cache of dust and blood from her limp body. Now he studied her face. She had a few short scratches on her chin and cheeks, but some long ones dared to try and fault her complexion. Although bruised and sufficiently battered, Hillary admired Lara for her determination. She was the bravest person he knew, and still the most beautiful. No one could take anything away from Lara; she held everything too close.

No matter how many lashings she was to receive, Lara would still retain her beauty. No matter how many people she had to kill, her heart would remain as it had always been- warm and carefree. Yes, Lara was a piece of work.

Quietly, Hillary continued mending her wounds when he stopped suddenly. A small black mark on Lara's hand had caught his eye. This was an unfamiliar tattoo to the butler, so he turned her hand to examine it.

No, this wasn't a tattoo; it was a brand mark.  
  
The disheveled tech hastily clicked on the link that he had found and waited until the page completely loaded. Scanning over the title quickly, Bryce knew that he had found what he was looking for. Excitedly, he sat up closer to the screen and trailed his eyes over the text before him.  
  
_'The Amulet of Ilse is a Biblical object with unusual powers. In Hebrew, Ilse means: God's Word. This Amulet has been rumored to contain God, himself, and his will to create or destroy. Although, this information is only in theory, and the Amulet itself has never been found. In legend, the misuse of Ilse's power would lead to the total devastation of the world. What really does the damage however, is the Tables...'_  
  
Bryce kept reading and could not believe what he had found. Did Lara know what this Amulet did? He wasn't sure if she knew either. But now, he knew about it, and he would be the one to receive the credit of telling everyone else. It took about another ten minutes to read the information on the page, but Bryce quickly finished and wrote everything down. Tomorrow, he would tell everyone about his great discovery!  
  
Lara stirred and groggily opened her eyes. She had a splitting headache and felt very weak. She could remember the fight and she knew that she had lost a decent amount of blood, but she didn't remember ever coming into this room. Lara looked around and was relieved as she saw Hillary in the corner. Somehow, she only came into this room unconscious. Never did she ever walk in here on her own free will. She watched as Hillary stirred in the corner and look at her with glee in his eyes.

"Lara! Good morning! We were quite worried about you." Lara smiled at him and took his outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Hillary," she said, clumsily lifting herself off of the table.  
  
Lara had to balance herself for a minute before she could walk, but she managed. She put a ghostly hand to her temple, as her headache was a trifle more than intolerable. Hillary glided over to her and offered her his arm. She smiled warmly at him and graciously accepted. Together, they made their way into the main room where the bodies still lied in the most awkward and frightening positions. Lara's cast-iron stomach had to kick in as she walked towards the stairs.

Suddenly, she felt a soft grip on her hand and she turned around. She furrowed her eyebrows at Hillary in question as she watched him lift up her own hand; she looked at it in disbelief.

"Hillary," Lara managed to get out over her rising level of astonishment, "how did this happen?"

Hillary looked her dead in the eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "I found it while I was cleaning you up. I do not know how it got there."  
  
Lara inspected the brand-mark and her eyes widened as she realized what it was. Carefully, she reached inside of her pocket and grabbed the chain that she had put in there the afternoon of the invasion. Pulling it out, she let it dangle at her eye level as she saw what had given her the awful black mark upon her hand.

"It was this," she whispered, "this symbol engraved itself into my skin." Lara thought for a moment then walked over to one of the corpses that littered her floor. She took a lifeless hand and held it close to the chain. A mark was on him as well. The tomb raider looked around and noticed.

"_They all have them._"  
  
Bryce awoke in his trailer and yawned. Scratching his head, he yawned some more. In fact, he was still quite tired from the long day of blood, gore, and research that he had witnessed and done the day before. What was that annoying sound? Bryce looked around and found an alarm clock. He threw a wrench at it and it stopped; well, really, it broke, but he didn't mind. Why had he set his alarm?

"Oh yeah!" Bryce remembered and hastily pulled on a pair of jeans from the floor. He quickly ran out of his trailer and up to the manor where he assumed everyone was awake. He was going to be the bearer of good news! Well, it was news anyway...  
  
Lara's head shot up as she watched her tech run wildly into the room from the front door.

"Lara! Lara!" She heard him yell as he ran up to her, almost out of breath.

"Bryce, what is it?" She thought there might be something wrong with him, but he smiled goofily at her and she calmed her nerves.

"Lara, I know exactly what the Amulet does. I found the information on it last night." Lara smiled at Bryce and let him have his fun. No reason in telling him that she knew most about the Amulet anyway. The only thing she really didn't know is that other people knew about it. That's why she wasn't expecting an attack.

She followed Bryce as he plopped himself on a step and began avidly explaining what he had learned.  
  
Bryce cleared his throat before he began to speak. He watched gleefully as he acquired Lara and Hillary's full attentions.

"Alright, Ilse means 'God's Word'." He paused for a moment and was about to continue until Hillary interrupted him:

"Is that all you've found?" Bryce glared at the condescending butler.

"If you would listen, you bloody prat, you'd find that I've researched quite a lot, thank you." He watched as Hillary shut his mouth and found a seat next to Lara on the steps.

"Anywho, the Amulet is said to contain the actual spirit of God, even though that is just a theory. But, it just might contain God's will. That means that if this Amulet was to fall into the wrong hands..." He shrugged his shoulders.

"World domination," Lara supplied shortly.

"Exactly."  
  
Bryce began his explanation again:

"It is said that to activate the Amulet, you would have to put it on." Bryce hoisted himself from the stairs and began to pace in front of them. "Naturally, when you do so, God's Word would be your own, making you "God" or at least the one that makes the final decisions. In a way, you'd be controlling him- the whole world. If God made the world, you would be able to undo it. It would be simple." Bryce smiled, as he still retained the attention of Lara and Hillary.

"But there's more complications. See, the fool who tries to use this bloody amulet starts the turning of four wheels. Each wheel is assigned to a special "trait"- you could call it- of God. The first wheel begins to spin on the first hour, when the fourth hour comes, the second spins, and then so on and so forth. The wheels turn for a total of forty- eight hours. The first spins for all of that time, the second a little less, etcetera. But then after each table has begun to turn, each one starts to move backwards simultaneously. Now, the last table is the only one that does follow the others. This table is the one that would cease everything if it were turned backwards. Sure, it makes its way to copy the others, but not as fast. The tables only need to move a minute way past where they had been set, and total chaos would break free."

Bryce stopped for a moment as he watched Lara take in a breath as well as what he had said. "See, it takes half the time for the tables to turn backwards as it does forward. So, twenty-four hours is all the time it would take for the world to be completely destroyed."  
  
Lara nodded her head, she had heard most of this before, but she didn't know how Bryce had acquired the knowledge. So, the stunned look on her face as she listened to her tech's speech wasn't completely false. She shook her head and looked down at her feet. This was not going to be a pleasant event. She had yet to find out who wanted the Amulet and why. She also didn't know how to destroy the Biblical artifact properly.

There was always some tricky way to do things. The Triangle of Light was easy enough to dispense of; getting it was the problem. All Lara had to do for the Amulet, was find a hidden tomb, avoid some spitting arrows, more booby traps, grab the amulet, and outrun a boulder on the way out. Quite simple for something which held so much power.  
  
Lara looked up at Bryce again for he started to talk once more. "I don't know what the Tables are named, however. I was lucky to find the information that I found. But there was another thing... something about a brother Amulet..."  
  
Lara's eyes grew as this newfound information flowed into her ears. _There was another Amulet._ That was the last piece of the puzzle. She didn't own the other, but she had a good idea that whomever tried to kill her was the other possessor.

"Lara?" Lara heard her name being said and she looked at Bryce.

"The tables stand for: Innocence, Life, Salvation, and Energy."


	10. Passiveness

--Previously--  
  
A room lit by no more than a dying fire, contained two men as they spoke.

"So she has the other Amulet?"

The dark shadow that sat in a high-backed chair nodded his head.

"And we have to get it, don't we?"

Another nod.

"Sir, with all do respect, this will not come easy. You know as well as every other criminal out there that Lara Croft is not one to steal from or mess with."

Silence. The man that stood breathed heavily as he shifted his weight.

"You are nervous, Vladimir." The deep-throated voice said as he sipped a glass of wine. The man known as Vladimir stumbled in his thoughts.

"I can assure you sir, that the majority of our crew is ten times more nervous than I am." He shifted his weight again.

_Who the hell would want to steal from Lara Croft?_  
  
The sitting figure's raspy voice was heard again. I suggest that you get ready to invade in the morning." Vladimir raised his head and squinted his eyes in question at his boss.

"The... the morning, sir? Isn't that..."

"Silence. I do not want any questions. If all goes to plan, it will be better than attacking at night. Now go. I want the men ready, all of them! Now go!"  
  
Vladimir scurried as fast as he could out of the darkened room. Thank god he was out; he thought his boss was going to kill him for sure this time. It wasn't that Vlad had done anything wrong, his boss was just... the devil. Vladimir made his way through a series of hallways until he reached the training room. Flinging open the doors, he saw all of the crew that was to steal the Amulet from Lara Croft.

"Gentlemen!" He watched as all of the burly men faced him in attention. "You must all be ready to attack the Croft Manor by morning! We will leave here at precisely five o'clock. Any man that stays behind will be shot."  
  
Vlad watched the impact of his words hit the muscular men as their eye contact broke for the smallest amount of time.

"We will be searching for the Amulet of Ilse. After killing Croft, you will search her entire house. The one place that you should be sure to look is the room that is surrounded by glass walls. If you follow the plan correctly, the explosion will knock out the first barrier- the bulletproof glass. Another barrier will fall, however. This will be made out of solid steel. You know what to do there. When you have penetrated the defenses, it is your mission to capture the Amulet with no questions asked. After retrieving the Amulet, you will put it in the safe-box. Is that understood?"  
  
"Yes sir!" Was the reply. Satisfied, and without another word, Vladimir turned on his heel and walked out of the door.  
  
A small man ran as fast as he could down a winding staircase towards the basement. It was almost five o'clock, and the crew would be leaving soon. If he wasn't down there in ten minutes, they would find him and kill him. This small man's name was Peter. Peter had the most important job of all, or, so he was told. Commander Vladimir didn't tell him what they had in store; all he said was that with Peter's help, they would surely kill Lara Croft. That was enough for Peter. All he wanted was to get paid so he could provide for his family.  
  
Peter Margin might not be the bravest man in the world, or the smartest, but he had dedication. He was dedicated so much to this cause, that he never asked any questions. And he thought that the commander, maybe even the head boss, was very impressed with him. Sadly, they didn't even acknowledge that he existed, but he didn't need to know that. Quickening his pace, Peter jumped down the steps two at a time.

_Only six more minutes, Peter!_ He had been on the tenth floor when he found out what time it was. He wished that someone would have told him, but he didn't have any friends that worked with him. In fact, no one liked him and he really didn't know why.  
  
Peter was nice enough. Or, at least he thought so. He was small in build and not very tall, but he wasn't a mean person. He was raised to be a gentleman, and that's what he was. Peter eased the heavy flow of thoughts that raced in his mind as he reached the basement floor. He was out of breath, and he had an awful stitch in his side. With all his force, he pushed open the huge iron door and made his way toward the truck that he had been assigned to.

Yes. Today was the day when he would finally get some money for his family. He wouldn't have to go on these dangerous missions anymore. He would quit, and that would be that. No more risking his life!  
  
Margin reached the truck and almost hurled. He was feeling very sick after all that bouncing on the stairs. He had been jolted quite a bit, and his stomach simply did not agree.

"Oi! Shrimp, get ova here!" Peter jumped up quickly and felt his stomach reel again.

"Yes sir?" He squeaked, still breathing hard. He watched as the other man looked down on him in disgust.

"You need to put this suit on. Aren't you the one that Commander Vladimir assigned?" Peter nodded his head wildly as the man threw the suit at him. It smacked him in the forehead.

"Don't touch anything on it. Just put it on, and shut up." Again, Peter nodded. He never thought himself to be a very passive person, but he was. For not being a very smart person, he thought an awful lot.  
  
A sharp whistle blew and everyone loaded up into the trucks. Every crewmember had been assigned a special number, and if they were to get in the wrong van, the penalty was death. These people didn't mess around, Peter had noticed. Quickly, Peter scrambled to his assigned van- number 16. He had to look at his hand to make sure. He wasn't quite good at remembering things. When he got there, he discovered that the other people that occupied the van left no room for him.

"Um, excuse me?" Peter squeaked. No one turned his way. Peter tried to raise his voice a little. "Pardon me?"

Everyone looked at him with a cold glance. "What do you want, you little maggot?" One of the men spat at Peter.

"I... I was assigned to this van..." A sharp blow to Margin's head sent him flying back, and he heard the laughter of everyone in the vehicle.  
  
Then the Commander entered the basement. "Why are you on the floor, soldier?" Peter looked up shakily and tried to stand back up.

"I was just trying to get into my assigned van, sir." He watched Vladimir glare at the occupied vehicle.

All of the men had stopped laughing some time ago out of fear. They knew whom they could mess with, and who would just blow their damn head off. With one short movement of his hand, Vladimir ordered the men to make room. He then roughly shoved the bleeding Peter towards the doors and walked away. Peter lifted himself into the back of the van and huddled himself into a corner. That was all the room they gave him.  
  
Right at five, all of the vans started up, and off they went to the Croft Manor. Peter was feeling very uncomfortable in his tight space, but of course he wouldn't say anything. Why would he? All of these men were extremely big, and they needed the room. Peter didn't.

Peter looked out of the window opposite him and watched as the scenery flew by before his eyes. Soon, he would find out exactly what he was meant for in this mission. He hoped that it would really help them achieve their goal! Peter's thoughts fluttered away as the rest of the men in the back of the van spread their legs more, leaving the smaller man with barely any room at all.

_Well, they need it more, not me. And besides, it's only a little drive away. I won't have to sit here that long._

So the assassins were off to invade Lara's mansion. And Peter would finally find out what he was 'meant' for.


	11. Denying Denial

*A/N: Hey everyone! I know I haven't been updating, and I'm sorry! I wanted to see how many reviews I could get before I updated again... not a good idea. I was actually thinking of ending the story... but, I'm really not sure. At one time, I was under the impression that no one really liked it much, but I'll let you decide! Anyway, I'm planning on making the next two or three chapters about the intruders, to fill in some gaps and add more detail to the story! Ok, I've blabbed enough, it's time for you to read! 

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Fifteen minutes had passed. Any moment now, they would be arriving at the gates of the Croft Manor. Peter was anxious about the whole mission, but the rest of his comrades seemed very calm and collected. Peter was normally a very fearful little man anyway. The one thing that Margin could do was follow orders from his leaders. Well, really he took orders from everyone because he was so small and no one liked him. Peter wrung his hands and a tiny bit of sweat ran down his face. "Oi, the little one is scared!" Peter turned his head to look at the speaker and was met with a malicious glare. He decided not to move or breathe loudly until they reached their destination.  
  
That moment came all too soon. Peter's head jerked sharply towards the door next to him as a fellow worker unlocked it. Quickly, the man was gone, and every one started to unload. They were a safe distance away from the manor, a bit past the front gate so no one could see them. Peter drew in sharp, hesitating breaths and ran his eyes over the huge mansion. He had never seen the Croft Manor in person before, but eventually he would see all that he needed to see.  
  
Vladimir exited his car and stood, eyeing the Manor. His dark eyes took no more than a glance at all of the mere pawns that had been recruited. They were beneath him, but somehow, he felt as if he was one of them. Shaking the absurd thought out of his head, the tall commander made his way toward the small man that was meant to give Croft a nasty explosion. He grinned shortly as he approached the tiny man. Vlad tapped him on the shoulder and watched him jump in fright. "No need to be afraid, dear..." Vlad did not remember the pawn's name. He arched an eyebrow awaiting an answer. It was embarrassing for a Commander to be at a loss for words. "P...Peter." The man answered. Vlad nodded slowly and led this-Peter- away from the rest of the recruits. "My dear, Peter, you are the most important part of this mission, and do you know why?" Vlad gave a downward glance to Peter as they walked and felt a sudden urge to strangle the little man for he took too long to speak. "I... I'm not sure, Commander, sir." This was precisely what Vladimir wanted to hear. He loved to be the bearer of bad news, or maybe... maybe he didn't. All Vlad knew was that he was supposed to, and that was good enough for him.  
  
Vlad stopped in his tracks and placed a large gloved hand on Peter's shoulder. "We have told you about the explosives no doubt," Vladimir began, shortly tracing shapes on his defining chin, "at least the putty that you will be placing on the glass barrier." He watched as the short man nodded eagerly up at him; he had so much innocence in his eyes. Vlad turned his eyes away from Peter, feeling that he could no longer lie to him if he kept staring into those vast pools of hope. The commander tightened his grip on Peter's shoulder and spoke more softly, "You are not to tell anyone about the vest that you are wearing. That is the demise of Lara Croft, and I won't have anything interfere, is that understood?"  
  
Peter furrowed his eyebrows shortly as he listened to his commander. 'What would a silly little vest have anything to do with the mission?' Peter shook his head, thinking that he would never understand the logic of his brave commander. Peter smiled, but a trace of uncertainty dared to play on his lips for a brief moment as he caught a rare glimpse of fear on his commander's face. Fear? No, never would the great Commander Vladimir ever show any signs of fear! Peter smiled cheerily and looked up at his leader. "Peter, this vest that you are wearing is packed full with explosives. As soon as you press this big red button here, it will explode." Peter watched as his commander waved a black object in front of his face. Peter furrowed his eyebrows and thought, 'Why don't we just use normal dynamite or... or... something else? Putting explosives in a vest is just silly.'  
  
Vlad could see that the small sacrifice did not comprehend the situation at hand. "Peter, you will be stationed exactly where we planned. When Croft is standing anywhere near you, you will pull out this detonator and push the red button." Vlad's eyes searched for any sign of understanding in Peter's eyes. He found some, and it was horrific. Peter's face was weighed down with the comprehension of his assignment and his eyes became utterly terrified. Vlad expected some kind of argument from the tiny man in front of him, but no such thing came. Vladimir's mind shivered under a short wave of confusion as the Peter-character made no motion to dispute his mission. Surely any other recruit here with half of a brain would deny this request, but this... Peter... he didn't show any sign of backing out. Odd.  
  
Peter felt his head nod slowly as he realized, just now, how heavy the vest was that he was wearing. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would be sacrificing himself for the sake of a mission- never. Margin felt no other emotions but of a sudden emptiness. Fear did not cross his mind, but a new surge of something else... What could that new emotion be? It must be something that Peter had never felt before. Could this be denial? Peter had never done anything against his commander's word, but now he felt like yelling in Vladimir's face. Vladimir... he had said Vladimir, not Commander Vladimir, but only the first name. Peter's mind raced with questions. Was he losing his respect for his leader? He had never before argued a strict request and he was certainly not used to this new feeling.  
  
Not exactly knowing quite what to do, Peter shook away the new emotion, and decided that he must follow his instructions. Who needed denial anyway? There was no point in turning down this noble deed. If the mission counted on it, then Peter would do it, no questions asked.  
  
Vlad, sensing no disagreement in this conversation, smiled shortly at Margin and walked away from him, ready to prepare the first wave of assassins. A sickening smile spread across his face, "Excellent."  
  



	12. A Different Perspective

*A/N: I didn't get any reviews telling me to keep the story... so, I figured, what the hell, might as well write some more, for me more than anyone else. If anyone likes this story, please tell me... I don't wanna write a whole bunch and have no one read... That's no fun. Anywho, Here's the next chapter, and I'm sorry it took me so long to upload it!  
  
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Any moment now, the first "wave" of troops would invade the Croft Manor, and Lady Croft would suffer a gruesome death. This thought brought hope to many, but to others, it only brought more fear.  
  
Peter had no describable expression on his face. It was blank, and nothing more was to be said. His arms, limp at his side, were white, just as his face. His legs were like pudding beneath him, and they threatened to drop him to the ground, right then and there. But a thought came into Margin's head. 'This must be what I was meant for. This one task will save the world, and I will always be remembered for it! God has shown me my way, and I must accept it.' With newfound strength, Peter nodded and ran over to the troops, waiting to be called upon.  
  
While he waited, Peter watched the first invaders quietly make their way onto the roof of the manor. They were so agile, like a flower dancing on the wind. Only these flowers were of death, and not sweetness and life. These flowers had thorns that could kill, and Peter could do nothing about that. Margin was left in a daze as he watched the men in their black uniforms scale the height of the huge building. He watched them position themselves exactly where they had discussed in training. 'Soon,' Peter thought, 'Croft will be dead.'  
  
Vladimir motioned his hands to signal the troops to move out. The men deployed to their stations, and awaited their Commander's orders. Vlad scanned his eyes over the huge army. This would be the downfall of Croft; he could taste it. Row after row was stationed by the front door. When one group needed backup, the next line would move forward, and so on. This army was unstoppable! Even the clever Lady Croft would not be prepared for this type of invasion. All was well for the moment, and then Vlad gave the signal.  
  
Vlad watched as his men dove through the glass ceiling, hearing the shattering that occurred. He heard the leader of the team buzz in over the radio, "No sign of Croft, sir." He smiled to himself. Maybe this was going to be even easier than he had thought. "Good. Have the men split up and find that amulet! Don't leave until it is in your possession! Any sign of Croft- kill her. Over and out." Vlad crossed his arms over his chest and inhaled deeply. He narrowed his eyes and whispered, "It's doomsday, Croft."  
  
Jack let his eyes dart quickly from one corner to another. He didn't trust this house; he didn't trust it at all. He had never met this "Croft", but he heard that she was a fox. Deadly, no doubt, but nevertheless, a fox. His black goggles shaded his eyes from the morning light, which helped a bit, but he wished he could take them off. They were making him sweat, and he needed to stay focused. From his position on the ground, he could see just about everything; if Croft was here, he would see her first.  
  
Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded above them and everyone looked toward the banisters. Croft! One man, hanging from the ceiling now dangled there...limp. Jack shrugged it off and ordered the other four men to follow. Croft was his. Quickly, they all ran up the long staircase, turning as a unit to observe their surroundings. Bullets were heard, and all five men turned, aiming at their target. But she was gone, and Jack heard two loud thumps behind him as he ran. Two of his friends were dead. 'No time to think of that now, Jack! You've got to get Croft. Kill her!' Jack, and the other remaining two assassins followed Croft into the heart of her manor. They knew that she was armed, but they were many, while she was one. So what if some of them died. It was for the greater good... right?  
  
Jack cursed as he lost sight of Croft again and again. If he knew this house better, she would be dead by now. But she had the advantage, and he needed to make the best of it for him. Besides, who didn't like a nice game of cat and mouse? Jack heard more loud thumps of footfalls behind him, and he knew his backup had increased. Croft was in for it. He could tell she was near, and he couldn't wait to kill her. Suddenly Jack was pulled down to the ground; he hit his knees, hard. A single blast was heard above him, and then soft footsteps that ran in the other direction. "What the hell was that?" Jack got up and dusted himself off. "Croft, Mr. Pryer. She's gotten Jimmy." He listened to his comrade's light Irish accent and sighed. Maybe this was going to be harder than he had thought.  
  
Silently, Pryer and his team made their way through the twisting hallways, stopping before every intersection. They couldn't be too careful; Croft could be anywhere. Ten minutes had gone by, and she had surprised them many times by shooting down some of their best men... most of their men actually. Now only three of them remained; but hope still lingered. Stealthily, they tiptoed through the corridor, listening for any type of movement. There! They all fired at the shadow that darted down the hall. They were hot on Croft's tail; nothing could stop them now! Still, they tiptoed. All was silent, and they wanted to keep it that way. She wouldn't dare shoot down a hallway if she wasn't sure if people were down there, lest she give away her spot. Pryer thought he had already figured Lara out, but who really has?  
  
The corner they saw her disappear behind was two feet in front of them. Jack counted on his fingers and in unison, the assassins all leapt into the hall. Nothing. Nothing was there. There was no sign of Croft at all. 'But this is a dead end...' Jack silently gasped. He didn't like this at all. Suddenly, he saw Croft leap out of an alcove and fire at the two men in front of him. He barely even had time to look at his murderer. But from what he saw, his comrades were right. Lara Croft was a fox.  
  
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*A/N: Soooooo... how did you like the new chapter? Pretty decent length, I'd say. Not extremely long, but what can you do? Hehe... well, please review! I'm a little review-hungry! So, as soon as a get... let's say... 2 more reviews, I'll write my new chapter! Okee dokee? Awesome... Well, cya! 


	13. The Gatherer

I had never before experienced such a thing in my life. So much blood... so much blood. I imagined death as painless, a forgiving time, when God would take your soul and let it wander freely in the gardens of Heaven. Each soul would be forever in a peace that no one could explain, and nothing was ever wrong. But I was wrong. Life before this attack was hard, but I never could have imagined that something like this was lying in wait.  
  
I was recruited for the soul purpose to kill a certain Lara Croft. Being young and in the need of money, I accepted. It was the original plan that only money would be given if Croft was proclaimed dead, but so few remained, that it seemed that it was no trouble to give the few survivors some extra money. Sure, I have my money now. But is it worth the awful sights that remain in my memory? Never shall I forget that fateful day which ended with a blood-red sunset. Night approached and everyone would soon be dead. How she did it, I am sure that I shall never know. But I escaped, and that is all that matters. Or is it?  
  
It was early in the morning and the hustle and bustle was unbelievable. It being early had no affect on any of the men that shouted in the huge warehouse where we were to be loaded up into our unmarked vans. Everywhere I went, I heard the boasts of men shouting about how they would kill Croft if they found her. "I'm gonna snap 'er neck when I meet her. She won't know what hit 'er." Everyone chuckled. I walked on. Soon, it was time to be loaded in. We were about to set off when a very short little man joined us in the back of the crammed van. No one was too happy about this, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know who he was, and I didn't care to bother him either.  
  
For a long while, everyone kicked him "accidentally" and told him to scoot over. I was becoming nauseated and I prayed that we would be reaching our destination soon. God had answered my prayers. Finally, we were there. We all unloaded and were given our weapons. I couldn't have cared less about mine; I was too busy observing my surroundings. I noticed every window, every place there was to hide. I was good at things like that. My friends said it was paranoia... I said it was survival.  
  
But now it was time to move in. We didn't waste a second; all of us assumed our positions and our commander gave us the signal. I breathed a long breath, this didn't feel right. But how right I was. My mission was not only to kill Croft, but also to be a watcher. I was to know everything about her house, and where everything was. I wouldn't be with the other assassins, but wandering around the house while they all tried to kill her. I'd never met her before, but I knew how dangerous she was. I wasn't one to mess with power like that.  
  
I heard the glass shatter from inside, and then bullets, more bullets. There were men shaking, some men were stiff, few moved at all. I remained quiet, as always; quiet, but ready to fulfill my mission. The first line moved into the house while the rest of us backed away. I was to stay alive as long as possible, that was my job, my objective- stay alive. How easy that was, I wasn't sure. But now I know that I am lucky for living at all.  
  
The second and third lines moved in, quickly bursting through the front doors. The commander and I discussed that those few lines should be enough to stall whoever was inside long enough for me to get in safely. We were right. I slunk through the shadows, not making a sound. I took mental pictures of everything... everything. I noticed the room on the left, full of computers and a room that was connected to it, although I could not see inside. The grand staircase reached to the second floor, which branched to two separate areas. There were columns and banisters of white that stood in the way of my comrades' fire, and the glass ceiling above me now lay all over the floor.  
  
I was in full light now, and I peered quickly around a corner that was opposite the base of the staircase to make sure it was safe. All clear. I gave one last look behind me; about ten men went rushing upstairs. Croft had gotten away. I hoped that she would never run into me, and she never did.  
  
Silently, I walked through the hallways, estimating how long each branch off of the main corridor was, how many doors there were, each window, and how many doors were locked, unlocked, or had locks at all. I inspected everything there was to inspect on the outside, but now it was time for the guts of it all. With my leather gloves on, I opened each unlocked door first and mentally jotted down everything I saw. Carefully closing each door behind me, I moved on to the next, and the next. I never tired of anything like this. This was my forte, and I was the best there was, or would ever be.  
  
I was chosen for this job because I had the most brilliant memory. It was too risky to use paper or electronic devices, so the commander decided to use someone who could remember every last detail- someone like me. In my head was a whole map of the Croft Manor. If I were caught, there would be no evidence of what I was doing; it was the perfect situation. Or so I thought.  
  
In an hour's time, I had checked every room down the whole corridor that was locked and unlocked. Now it was time to go to the very end of the hallway. I paced myself as I neared the last door of the hallway. Turning my hand annoyingly slow, I finally opened the door, just a crack, and peered through. It was a basement, and no one was down there... yet. I rapidly checked each license plate and maker of every car that was in there. There were so many! I never had to remember so much in my life. I was good- possibly the best, and I couldn't forget that. I looked over at the wine rack and inhaled sharply. 'She makes this so damn difficult.' I hesitated a moment before walking up to the rack; I touched the neck of every bottle and saw no real need to memorize anything about her interest in old wine. I moved on to a cabinet that I saw next to a workbench.  
  
There was an extensive collection of guns, no doubt. I ran my hand over the thick wire mesh and nodded approvingly, 'This woman has taste.' I admired her already, and I had only memorized half of her house. I laughed to myself and shook my head. There was still a lot to be seen. 'But how much more can I hold?' I asked myself this over and over. I didn't know how much memorization this mission called for. I wasn't supposed to leave the mansion or carry anything but a gun with me. I set my mind to work, but no solution came. It was as if the information of Croft's household had filled everything up, and there was no room for my original thought. I had to get these observations out to someone, and fast.  
  
Slowly, I walked back to where I came, but noticed something else. It was a dumb-waiter, a shelf on a pulley-system. I raised an eyebrow to no one and walked over to the old-fashioned device. Lifting up the door, I heaved myself in and began to pull the rope. Soon, I reached the top and I lifted the door just a tad to see exactly where I was. Gunshots were sounding; they echoed in the tiny space that I occupied, and it was deafening. I had to get out of there, and fast. Yelling filled my ears as I wrenched open the door and flung myself out. I immediately crashed into the opposite wall. The loud 'thump' I made was nothing compared to the gunfire that was all around. No one heard my embarrassing tumble.  
  
I gathered my thoughts for a moment and faced myself toward the main room. There was no sign of Croft, and the bullets weren't coming from there anyway. Hastily, I made a mad dash for the stairs. I jumped the first couple and almost tumbled down the rest, I was going so fast. None of my comrade's looked at me- they were too busy worrying about themselves.  
  
I had to think of a lie, and I had to think one up quick. If I were found out of the manor without permission, or a very good excuse, I would be in a shit-hole of trouble. I snuck to our transmitting van and rapped on the door sharply. I expected Tod, our tech to open the door, but I was faced with the person that I feared the most. "Willem, why are you out here?" The commander's eyes locked mine in place and I was instantly petrified. I couldn't tell him that there was too much to memorize. What should I say? Something good... 'Come on Willem...' I watched him stare me down. How long could I take this? "It's not too much for you, is it Mr. Parse?" He raised his goddamn eyebrow at me and I felt pure panic. All of a sudden, words flushed out of my mouth, "I was reporting to you that..." My eyes trailed to the ground for a moment, and there lied hope! I quickly pulled at the wire at my feet and continued, "... our connection will be temporarily lost in the Croft Manor because I have shut down the circuit breakers in the basement." I stuffed the wire as far as I could back under the van. Thank god for bumpers.  
  
I watched my commander's eyes soften a trifle as he looked at the monitors near Tod. "Sir, he's right, all connection is disabled." My eyes caught Tod's and he winked at me shortly, I felt a sudden urge to smile, but I hid it well. "Very well, Willem, thank you for informing us. Now if you'll excuse me." I moved slightly to let him exit the back of the van and watched him walk away. I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly my collar was pulled harshly and I was flung into the van. "Ha ha, you're so clever, Willem." Tod said in a sarcastic tone. "Why don't I just go and unplug all of your wires?" I smiled at him and he smirked at me. "Lucky for you, that wire has a plug. If you would have ripped it, we'd be shut down permanently." I sighed again at my luck. Was this my day or what?  
  
I suddenly remembered why I was there, "Tod, I desperately need you to jot all of this down. Tell Vlad that since I just happened to be here, I told you everything before I left... just in case." I added that to make it all sound more believable. My fate rested with this man, and I hoped that he would see things my way. I watched him glare at me. "I knew this was too much for you, Parse. Why didn't you just stay home and forget about this?" I frowned at him. I was doomed. "Hey, mate, I'm just kiddin'. Tell me what you know, and I'll jot it down." God bless Tod.  
  
In no time, everything I had learned was on countless sheets of paper. Tod gaped at everything I had remembered. "Hey man, don't worry about a thing. Vlad himself wouldn't've been able to remember all of this!" I patted my friend on the shoulder and jogged back to the mansion. I had discovered about thirty rooms. How many more could there possibly be? Well now I know, and I wasn't even half way there.  
  
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*A/N: Holy cow! I really didn't mean for this chapter to be so long... So, I'm going to have to add one more chapter before I get back to Lara. I hope no one minds! If you don't like this, please tell me so. I PROMISE that I will write only one more chapter that has to do with this side of the story. Well, at least consecutively... I've planned to make some more chapters like this, but not so many in a row. You know? Well, I hope that this doesn't bother anyone! The next chapter should be up soon! 


	14. Luck and Weakness

*A/N: This chapter will be told from the P.O.V of Willem Parse, "The Gatherer". This is the last chapter until I get back to Lara, so please read!!  
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I headed back toward the mansion and glanced at my watch; it was almost time for the detonation. I had to time this perfectly, or all would be lost. I ran hastily to the front door and peered around the corner- no sign of Croft or anyone else- perfect. I entered the manor and slipped back into the shadows, ready to finish my mission. I was about to head to the hallway by the stairs when I cowered back into the corner. There was Croft, and she had a man leaning on her. I watched as she placed him down by the staircase and looked over to the glass room. She had spotted our little decoys and headed in their direction.  
  
This was not how it was supposed to be! There was not supposed to be a man where I was to be escaping. Nevertheless, I had to get into that hallway, or suffer a horrific death. I waited until I found the opportunity- the man that Croft had placed by the stairs was looking intently at her backside, so I crept slowly in his direction. Let's hope that he really, really liked this girl. I needed that time! I was right next to him now; I could feel my heart beating in my chest. It pounded, my head pounded. I began to sweat, but made no noise.  
  
My bravery had paid off. I had succeeded in turning into the hallway without being detected. Call that sheer dumb-luck! What happened to peripheral vision? I scoffed at that idiot that let me just slip right by. Now that was a moron!  
  
I ran as quietly as I could, but quickly. I knew that the bomb was set to go off at any time now, and I had to get away. My legs almost gave out from beneath me as I sprinted down the long corridor, back into the basement. I planned to take the dumb waiter to the second floor; there was no thought in my mind about taking the stairs. That was suicidal.  
  
It was a matter of minutes before I felt the ground shake and my ears pick up the distinguishable sound of explosives. 'That little nutter did it. I can't believe he did it.' I heaved myself out of the shaft and turned to my right where I was to continue down the hall where I hadn't yet been. As I walked, I imagined our victory. Though our losses were many, they didn't seem to matter to the commander, and therefore, they meant nothing to everyone else. Except me. I cared. It seemed as though I was the only one that hadn't been manipulated by their cause, and yet, I still walked around in the Croft Manor for them, surveying every goddamn thing. 'Oh 'yay' with the irony.'  
  
Some time had passed after I heard the "Second Wave" invade the mansion. I had been to the rest of the rooms that I had found and made a mental copy of everything, and now it was time to leave. As I walked back toward the grand staircase I thought about that one man... the short one that I shared a van with. I never caught his name. Maybe it was because no one ever said it. I continued thinking about the odd little man and how brave he was. I, personally, didn't think that I would have the balls to do that.  
  
I checked the situation before I reached the stairs. The sight was terrible. Little pieces of burnt flesh were strewn about; they were hardly recognizable among the rest of the debris. I heard a torch come out to my left; they were going for the gold. Now was the time when our mission would be complete, and somehow... I felt no excitement. Nothing. I walked solemnly down the stairs and made sure that the man that was behind the banister earlier, was gone. Suddenly, I heard deafening screams of agony and the sound of mechanical saws. My eyes widened in horror as I witnessed the huge robot in the glass room come to life and slice every one of my comrades to pieces.  
  
More blood. Too much. Bones. Too many. I couldn't handle it. I panicked and ran toward the front door. Locked. 'Damn!' My head screamed at me in frustration. The doors would be locked until the commander gave the 'go ahead'. I was stuck in this blood-house for longer than I wanted to be. A thought came across my mind, "The basement!" There had to be a door out of there! Course there would be... it was a garage! I dashed down the long hallway, but my speed decreased as I heard more screams of pain from a room nearby. Crack! There was physical contact as well as the unmistakable sound of an M-16 being fired rapidly. I had to get out of there! I didn't want to be around for any more bloodbaths!   
  
As I inched forward, a small click from a door in front of me sounded and I frantically looked for somewhere to hide. Nowhere. I ran back down the hallway, faster than I had ever ran in my life. Back into the shadows I went, not wishing to be seen by anyone. I hid in my little sanctuary and watched as the man that I had seen earlier limped into view. There was a new air to him, and I didn't think it was enlightenment. This look was of pure hatred and contempt; I was glad for my hideout.   
  
I sat there for god knows how long. The battle had moved right in front of me, with two men gunning down my comrades that had been handicapped by Croft. One man had a shotgun... that was not a pretty sight. Some blood even reached me, splattering me. It was warm, very warm. All I could think about was getting out of there. But how? I just knew that they would soon find me, and that shotgun would be up against my head.  
  
But again, luck found me. The man with the shotgun ended up grabbing Croft and hauling her off somewhere, while the evil one lugged himself up the stairs. A small creaking sound to my right told me that the third man left through the front door. I waited a couple minutes- that was all I could bear. Hastily, I ran out of that house, out of the gates and I collapsed into the trees, hurling. Everything that poured out of me was influenced by the grotesque images that I had witnessed that day, and it wasn't until a while later that I stopped. I groggily looked up at the sky and saw the darkest sunset I had ever seen in my life. It signaled not only that the day was over, but so were the lives of many a-brave men.   
  
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*A/N: SO?!?! Did you like it? Now I will be getting back to Lara, Bryce, and Hillary! I promise that some lightheartedness will appear in the next chapter! (God knows this story needs it!) Anyway, PLLLLLEEEAASE review! I'm so review hungry here! As soon as I get 1 or 2 reviews, I'll update! How's that? Thanks for reading, and here's to the next chapter! 


	15. Bugger's Right

"Lara?" Lara heard her name being said and she looked at Bryce.

"The tables stand for: Innocence, Life, Salvation, and Energy."  
  
Bryce and Hillary looked at Lara in complete shock. "Bloody hell. So, the Amulet of Ilse is really the Amulet of the Tables." He scoffed, "What a tricky way of putting it. Kind of clever really- hiding the true meaning in abbreviations which mean something as well."

Lara nodded. "God really isn't as dumb as you think he is, Bryce." She smirked as Bryce's face showed a light red. Lara turned serious again.

"Bryce, you said something about a brother amulet. Did you find anything else on that?" She watched her tech shake his head.

"Not really." He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. Then, something hit him. "Wait. There was something. Uh..." Bryce scratched his head in deep thought. Something told Lara that he wouldn't remember for a long time.  
  
Hillary watched as the befuddled tech scratched madly at his head.

"Wouldn't it be easier, Master Bryce, to simply go back to your resources?" Bryce ceased his itching hands.

"Quite right, Hillary! You're absolutely right." Quickly, Bryce ran into the Tinkering Room and slid into his chair. "Okay, 'Amulet of God's Word'." He typed this in again and the search options popped up. Scrolling down the page, Bryce searched for the link that he had clicked on last night, but there was nothing that even closely resembled it.

"Hold on. It's not here. Lara, it's gone. The site was here, I assure you..." Bryce ran his fingers through his hair as an idea occurred to him. "History!" He exclaimed as he moved the cursor.

Clicking on the menu, Bryce moved the cursor until 'History' showed up. He clicked on it. There was the link! Hastily, he clicked on it and let the page load. The page loaded all right, but not the right one.  
  
'Error: This Page Does Not Exist'.  
  
"Bugger."  
  
Alex groaned as his eyes opened to a blinding light that seeped through the opening in his curtains. He felt awfully cold, and he realized that he didn't have the sheets on.

"Or clothes," he muttered to himself, looking down. Since he had broken into Lara's house, he didn't have any extra clothes, and the ones that he had worn the other night were soaked in blood. No chance of him donning those again. West searched through the huge bureau across from his bed. Nothing. There was nothing in this entire room for him to don.

"Well," Alex said blandly, "there's always towels..." West smirked as he wrapped a large towel around his waist and secured it.

"Let's hope this doesn't fall off."  
  
He made his way down the hall to the main staircase and saw Lara, Hillary, and Bryce in the tech room. Carefully, he made his way down the stairs and stopped in the doorway.

"Hillary," Alex spoke and watched all three pairs of eyes dart his way. He studied their faces for a moment. Hillary had his eyebrows raised and half of his mouth open while Bryce's face was shaken with surprise. Lara, however, had turned her head back to the computer screen as soon as she had seen him. Alex began to explain himself:

"Hillary, could I borrow some clothes? There weren't any in my room, and mine are soaked..." He watched as the butler nodded and began to walk his way.

"No," The familiar sound of Lara echoed in his ears. He stood there, unsure of what to do, until his eyes met hers. She strode toward him and gestured with a finger.

"Follow me."  
  
Lara exited the tech room with Alex in tow. In the doorway, she stopped and spun around.

"Hillary, please get started with this mess." She saw him nod and she turned back toward the staircase. Alex followed silently behind her, picking his way through the dead bodies. They resumed to the second floor without speaking and turned right. Soon, they reached a large oak door and Lara effortlessly pushed it open. She made her way to the opposite end of the room and flung open a set of doors.

"You can take any outfit you'd like. Just remember to shut the doors when you're finished." She walked back toward the door, but a gentle hand caught hers. Lara looked up into the eyes of Alex.

"Anything else?" She watched him shake his head at her, but he didn't let go of her hand.  
  
The tension was unbearable. Alex just couldn't seem to let go of Lara's hand, and he didn't even wonder if she cared. All he wanted was to be with her, and he couldn't tell her. She must know how he felt!

_Say something, Alex. Something... intelligent!_ His mind screamed at him, but nothing came...until:

"I thought I'd lost you."

The words spilled out of him uncontrollably. He watched her peer at him through her long eyelashes. Her gaze became not cold, but friendly, and her words were almost teasing.

"I don't get lost."

He smirked shortly as she winked at him and left the room. God, he loved that girl.


	16. Sinatra and Atlases

Lara stormed from room to room getting together her equipment for the journey she, no doubt, would be setting off on that very day. Hillary, meanwhile, was having the time of his life cleaning up the atrocious mess that had accumulated the Croft Manor. There were numerous bottles of different chemicals strapped to a belt around his waist. For any job there was to do, he had the remedy for it! A little Windex, Soft Scrub, Tilex, Clorox, you name it. This eccentric butler had it all. The bodies had been disposed of now, and all that was left was the blood, guts, glass, bullets, parts of the stairs and banisters, and toppled over furniture that had been blown to no repair. 

Hillary lightly danced over the debris to a Frank Sinatra record that he had set to play. He sprayed the Clorox to the beat: 

"_I've tried so not to give in._

_I've said to myself_

_This affair never will go so well._

_But why should I try to resist,_

_When baby, I know so well,_

_That I've got you under my skin."_

He twirled in an impression of the famous singer while dancing with the handle of a mop in his hand.

"I'd sacrifice anything come what might, for the sake of havin' you near..." Another twirl. Gracefully, he spun the mop and moved it into a dip. "In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night, and repeats - how it yells in my ear..."

Quickly, he bounced the handle back up to him and then let it fall to the floor. The end of the handle landed on the tip of his foot and he kicked it back up, spun himself around, and caught the mop on its way back down.

"Don't you know, little fool, you never can win? Why not use your mentality - step up, wake up to reality? But each time I do just the thought of you, makes me stop just before I begin. 'Cause I've got you under my skin. Yes, I've got you under my skin!" A final squirt of Clorox ended the song and Hillary abruptly stopped into a theatrical pose.

"Bravo! Encore!" Hillary turned around and was shocked to see Bryce and Lara watching him, most amusedly. His face immediately turned a bright red, but he was sporting, and deeply bowed.

"Now, if you don't mind," Hillary spoke somewhat sternly, "I must be getting back to cleansing." Lara and Bryce looked at each other like two kids that had just caught their parents in a romantic act. Quickly, they both nodded and went in their separate directions.

The butler smiled and shook his head. "Kids."

Bryce rapidly pecked at his keyboard then rolled over to another computer and did the same. He was on three computers, actually, trying to find something, _anything_, on the Amulet. He sighed and dejectedly lowered his gaze from the harshness of the light of the screen.

"There's no more that I can do."

Meanwhile, there was plenty that Lara could do. She was now in her study, the one that she always came to for answers from her Father's collection of priceless books. Some of them weren't publicly priceless, but they were to Lara. They fed her a kind of energy that nothing else could- filling her to her extent with information. She traced her fingers along the spine of several books before reaching the one she wanted. Hastily, she yanked it out of the shelf and flipped it to a page that she had read only once in her life.

The Amulet of Ilse had never really intrigued her like many other works of mystery did. When her father wanted to read its legend to her, she would simply shake her head and beg for something "more exotic", in her past words. She wished that she hadn't scoffed at it so much. She might now know something that was invaluable to her mission that lied ahead of her. Shrugging off her regret of the past, Lara began to read the text. 

Yes, everything that she had already known was in there, as well as everything Bryce had told her.

_Except,_ she thought, _the mystery of the Brother Amulet._

That, she feared, would be forever locked in anonymity. The disheartened woman laid the book down on her desk and propped her feet up.

_There has to be something. My father would not let this be overlooked._

But what if he had overlooked this particular thing?

_Nonsense, Lara, Lord Croft always knew every detail about objects that he spoke of. Never did he lead anyone into a state of ambiguousness; he always told what he knew and didn't hide anything from his little girl._

She paused for a moment, her elegant eyebrows furrowing.

_Save the Illuminati ordeal._

Lara became frustrated and flung her feet off of the desk. She picked up the book from the table and prepared to throw it across the room, when the binding gave way. 

The pages fluttered from their prison and onto the floor, leaving the book in ruins. Lara's eyes became wide as she realized that she had destroyed a tome from her father's collection. She would never forgive herself. She bent down to retrieve the scattered pages, but something else caught her eye. 

Lara's slender hand moved toward the cover of the book and she peered inside. On the binding was written, '_Atlas 9.12.195. _Fongafale_'_

Confusion swept over Lara's face, but she realized that this was just another one of her father's clever games. She smiled. Maybe this would lead her to what she needed to find. Carefully, she picked her way through the volumes of Atlases and came across number 9. She pulled it out and curiously flipped through all of the pages. No good. She turned to page 12. Same. Now 195 was her only hope. Taking in a sharp breath, she let the pages fall to the exact entry, and looked down. 

It was a map of the Islands that were located in the Pacific Ocean. Lara trailed a finger across the page with a blank gaze. _What did this all mean?_ _Couldn't her father just TELL HER where everything was?_

_Course not,_ Lara smirked briefly at the memory of her father. He always wanted her to learn something new, and by herself. She concentrated harder. Fongafale... She searched for that word everywhere on the page, making sure she had checked every part, when finally...

"Yes! Here it is." Tuvalu- a tiny island northeast of Australia. That is where her attacker would be setting off to; therefore, that is where she needed to go. But in how much time? There were some things that she was certain wouldn't come from an Atlas.


	17. The 'Bryce Trap'

"Ow! Bugger!" Bryce had yet again been shocked by one of his feisty robots. "Blimey, why can't you just behave?"

It was now ten o'clock in the morning, and he couldn't believe that he was up. It wasn't as if Lara had instructed him to wake up so early, it was mostly that he just wanted to help. Bryce felt like he needed to prove himself, and he had no notion of how. He didn't even know _why_ he wanted to! 

Carefully, he reached for his tinker-toy again, avoiding the sharp pincers that gave him quite a shock every time he touched them (no pun intended). Slowly, he placed his hand right above the robot, preparing for an aerial attack. Hovering for only a moment, he quickly thrust his hand downward onto the little demon.

"Ha! I've got you now!" The robot struggled to get away, or to electrocute the hand on top of him, but all it could do was cooperate. Bryce beamed triumphantly as he felt the tiny robot give up. He showed him who was Master-Tinkerer around here! Soon, Bryce got bored with this particular 'bot, and with a slam of his trailer door, he headed up to the manor.

Alex smoothed the button-up shirt that he put on and looked in the mirror. It fit him nicely, really; the material was white linen and it flattered his physical form. For pants, a pair of casual black slacks was all he needed. He found that these fit remarkably well.

"Scary," he whispered as he donned some socks and spare boots he found.

"What is?"

"Ah!" Alex jumped as he heard another voice. "Holy... You know, you really scared me." He watched as Lara curled her full lips into a crooked mischievous smile.

"I live to strike fear in the hearts of many..."

Alex sneered, "Not if you give them a heart attack _first_!" Another smile from her. Damn she was beautiful... that was all that Alex could think.

Lara couldn't help but laugh as Alex jumped nearly out of his skin as she spoke to him.

"And I suppose you came here for a specific reason? Or did you just want to give me a heart attack?" Lara walked closer to him, raising her head and looking him straight in the eyes.

"I would prefer if you died later, actually." He gave her a short smirk and that 'God-Lara-you-have-such-a-dry-sense-of-humor' look. Naturally, she was used to that, so all she could do was simply smile right back.

"I came to tell you that I know where to go. I found the location in an Atlas... with my father's help." 

West didn't dare interfere with this statement. If Lara Croft tells you that her dead father came to her and pinpointed the exact location of where to take an ancient artifact, you believe her! There was no doubt in his mind that Lara was just leading him on. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"So... where are you off to this time?" His gaze stayed glued to her eyes, any lower, and he knew there would be trouble.

"Tuvalu. It's an island in the Pacific Ocean, near Australia. And, I'm not the only one who will be going."

Alex looked at her. _She couldn't mean me could she?_

"Bryce will be going as well. It's about time he's went somewhere. Imagine- staying inside this mansion for so long... people would think you have agoraphobia!" 

West's eyes dropped a little, but not to cleavage. He really wanted to go on this mission with her, but it seemed as if she didn't want him to go.

"Alex?" He looked up into her beautiful eyes and waited. "Alex," she repeated. "I want you to go as well. I didn't really thank you for your help after the invasion...

Alex sensed that this was hard for her, "Lara, you don't have to..." But oh, did she ever.

"No. I'm apologizing; don't screw this up! You're lucky to be getting one." She took a breath, "I'm sorry for shooting you as well. Can you forgive me?"

Alex could have sworn that his mouth was on the floor. He had just received an actual, truthful apology from Lara Croft. He was dumbfounded, but then regained composure.

"Lara, I could forgive you for anything." His eyes searched in hers, trying to guess what she was feeling. Suddenly, he felt her hand on his waist. It moved down lower, toward his crotch.

_Pinch me, I'm dreaming!_ West thought as the hand moved slightly lower. Then, a _zip_ sound could be heard and Alex just realized what she had done. He felt so embarrassed.

"Uh, thanks." He received a playful smile and a quick wink, then she turned and exited the room.

"Smooth, West. Real smooth."

Lara chuckled to herself as she entered her own room and began chucking bags out of her door.

"This, and this... oh, and this one..." After she was done, a large heap of luggage was stacked outside of her door, waiting to be carried downstairs. Hillary, who had heard all of the commotion, immediately had ran upstairs to see what was the matter.

"Lara? Lara are you in there?" Lara heard her butler calling to her and she bounded toward the door.

"Yes, Hillary, I'm in here!" She couldn't help but laugh at his reply:

"Oh, that's good, I just couldn't see over this Great Wall of Luggage! Honestly, I thought they left that in China!" Lara rolled her eyes and pushed away one of the bags so that she could see her butler more clearly.

"_Honestly_, Hillary," she mocked him, "don't you think you have some uh... _dancing_ to do?" 

Hillary's mouth was instantly agape and Lara accidentally laughed in his face.

"Hillary, I'm sorry, but that _was_ funny! Ask Bryce!" The butler became serious looking, but Lara knew that he was only fooling.

"Lady Croft, I have known Master Bryce long enough to know that _anything_ will amuse him." Lara began to laugh.

"Yes, Hillary, that is true; sadly, that is true." 

Twenty minutes later, when all of the baggage had been set by the front door, Bryce barged through the doors. Almost immediately, he stumbled over the abundance of luggage, tangling himself in some spare rope that linked several of them.

"Help!" He screamed. "Somethin's got me!" Lara, Hillary, and Alex all appeared from different areas of the room and looked at him in amusement.

Bryce begged, "Is someone going to get me out of here or what?" Lara moved first and crouched beside him.

She purred, "You know, some serious revenge could be placed right now..."

The tech's eyes became wide, "Lara, Please! You can't take advantage of me like that! I'm..." he considered "...just an innocent young boy!" Everyone besides him laughed heartily, but it was Alex who spoke.

"You look pathetic, Bryce." The entangled man stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, can it, West, you great love spud!" 

"Bryce!" Lara yelled at him, as she took a small switchblade out of her boot.

"Now, I'll only let you go if you promise to be a good boy." She watched him nod his head fiercely. "Okay, you're free." Bryce flailed his arms about making sure the rope was no longer inhibiting him.

"So, do you just leave rope lying around all the time, or was this just an intricate Bryce-trap that you've set?" Hillary couldn't resist the chance to retaliate:

"Master Bryce, it wouldn't take something as intricate as rope to capture you."

Bryce considered for a moment and decided that that remark was an insult. "Hey! Mr. 'Sinatra', I've got a bone to pick with you..."

Lara had to interject. "Bryce! Calm down now... it's okay. Now, just go into the tech room, fiddle with some robots, do whatever it is you do, okay?" She watched Bryce nod his head solemnly. "Oh, and by the way, you're coming to Tuvalu with us!"

Before Bryce could get a word in, Lara disappeared into a hallway. He smirked at her trickery.

_Well, at least I'm not stuck here today..._

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love spud: n. testicle. 


	18. What Lies Right Before Your Eyes

Alex and Lara stepped through the automatic doors and were immediately embraced with a gust of cold air. Lara removed her black sunglasses and placed them on top of her head, her long brown hair was tied back and she wore form-fitting black leather pants. If Alex were just a passerby, he would have taken more notice, but since he knew her personally, he knew the consequences and didn't care to experience them. Besides, he knew that she was never unarmed.

Both archaeologists made their way toward the check-in counter, unhindered by baggage. Bryce, however, was not so lucky. He had been stuck with all of the belongings and he lagged behind, complaining of course.

"Bryce!" Lara turned to face her tech that was a good distance away from them. "Rent a trolley!" She watched as Bryce's mouth fell open.

How could he have been so stupid? As quickly as he could muster, Bryce scurried toward the trolley rental and dropped every bag onto it, except his bags. Heaven forbid his precious laptop suffered a horrendous jolt!

Casually, Lara slid all three tickets across the counter and the person behind the desk inspected them. The clerk raised his eyes at Lara and then busied himself with the pieces of paper. Alex felt his blood boil; he knew that man was checking Lara out, and Alex did not like it. The clerk began to speak:

"Okay, Ms. Croft, Mr. West, and..." He stopped and looked around, "...is there someone else with you?" Lara smirked and turned around, pointing toward the man behind her.

"Yes, that would be my tech, Bryce. He's here." The clerk nodded, taking a small glimpse of Lara's cleavage. If he was any more discrete, trumpets would be blaring and alarms would sound. Yes, this definitely made Alex angry.

Lara, however, did not seem to notice. She had busied herself with taking note of the airport and the people in it. She didn't even glance at the clerk when he handed the tickets back to her. Lara walked away before he could even give her the gate number. Somewhat disappointed, the man behind the desk resolved in telling a very cross Alex West.

Lara hastily walked through the airport with Alex and Bryce rushing to catch up behind her.

"Lara!" A breathless Bryce yelled. "Lara, you don't even know which gate we're in!" Finally, he rolled the trolley next to Lara and began to complain again. "Now remind me _why_ we're using the public airlines. Weren't you the one who was in the military and has connections? Why don't you ask for a bloody luxury aircraft!"

Lara slowed her pace for a moment and Bryce saw that her eyes danced with merriment; she was enjoying this.

"Bryce, I can't abuse my "connections" as you call it. They don't answer to my every beck and call, you know." Bryce gave her a dubious look.

"Yeah, all right, you win!" He threw up his hands and whisked them back down to the trolley. "You know you're a pain in the bum?" Lara smiled and placed a slender hand on her tech's shoulder.

"As are you, my friend. As are you."

"Gate A23 now boarding. First class is boarding now." An English-accented voice boomed over the intercom as Lara and Alex walked toward the terminal. Bryce was running toward them at the time because he had to check the baggage. He reached his two comrades and clutched a stitch in his side.

"You know," he breathed, directing his statement to Lara, "the things I do for you..." The disheveled tech bent over and positioned both of his hands on his knees. Lara stepped to him and gave him a small hug.

"We know, Bryce. What would we do without you?" And with that, the three boarded the plane.

The flight to South Africa had been fruitless. Nothing interesting went on at all. Lara had sat in her seat the whole time, peering out the window once in a while. Alex had sat in the aisle seat, busying himself with uninteresting magazines and ordering way too much to drink. Bryce sat in the middle and promptly absorbed himself into his laptop while simultaneously thumbing through a computer magazine and listening to headphones. As much as Lara tried, she just couldn't find anything to do. The hours seemed to crawl by, but finally they reached South Africa where they would take a connecting flight to Australia.

People jumped out of the way as the adventurers rapidly sprinted to their next flight. Bryce tripped over many people and baggage, Alex was a little luckier, but Lara gracefully hurdled objects in the way, weaved through the traffic, and reached the terminal just in time. Just in time to see that the flight was delayed, that is. Slightly annoyed, Lara plopped herself down on a chair and waited for her slow comrades to join her. When she saw them, she could not help but release a healthy laugh.

Both of the men looked as if they had just woken up, Alex with wind-blown hair and Bryce... well, he looked the same as always. His hair was never tidy. Lara didn't even stop laughing when she drew the attention of numerous people at the terminal. She didn't know, however, that she had drawn the attention of someone that wanted her dead. 

"Have fun boys?" Lara chuckled.

She was met with two accusing glares as they both landed into separate chairs. The flight was only delayed a half an hour, but darkness had already overtaken the sky, and they would not reach Tuvalu until the next day, most likely when the sun was just about to set. This flight was not as boring as the next, for this plane was much larger, and Lara sat in the aisle seat. Next to her, was a very charming man and they had many heated discussions. Lara didn't notice the glares that Alex was giving her new acquaintance, but he was sure dealing them an awful lot.

Lara talked to the man across from her about archaeology, mythological artifacts, and legends, though she never once spoke a word about the Amulet. She learned many things from this man as well. He had wanted to become an archaeologist, but something else was in the way. He didn't tell her, but she got the gist of it.

_Most likely family issues,_ Lara thought. But nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Hours from then, the plane landed in Australia and Lara bid adieu to her acquaintance and headed off with Alex and Bryce.

"He seemed nice, Lara," Bryce said, breaking the silence between them all.

Lara nodded. "Yes, we talked about many things. He was nice." Alex never said a word.

"Was he anyone important?" Bryce continued to be nosey. Croft thought for a moment and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think so. He's just a hopeful young man that wanted to be an archaeologist." Bryce nodded and asked a final question:

"Does this mystery bloke have a name?"

Laughing, Lara remembered. "Yes, his name was Willem. Willem Parse."


	19. Pay Back

Next destination: Fongafale, Tuvalu. 

Lara exhaled in a fit of boredom and flipped through the pages of an airline magazine absently. Her long, brown hair that had once been so smoothly done, now escaped from its trap and appeared as if she had just come from an expedition in some jungle. She was way past aggravated, but she kept her cool and closed her eyes.

Bryce smacked his computer. "Work, you bloody contraption! Oh no! I'm sorry, precious! Come on..." The tech added the last bit when the computer screen threatened to turn off by flashing numerous lines, which hinted toward 'malfunction', across it. Bryce, ever being the sucker for his little gadgets, stopped yelling at his laptop and stroked it lovingly. The computer owned him, and he knew it.

Lazily, he raised himself off of his seat and scratched his underside. "Ugh, sittin' here so long makes me bum go to sleep."

Alex looked at him in amused disgust and rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you're having fun. Look at poor Lara!" Both men turned toward the Tomb Raider and stifled their laughter. Lara was asleep, her glasses shading her beautiful eyes and the magazine that she had once been "reading" was cast onto the floor. Alex shook his head as Bryce continued to stare.

"Bryce, no." 

"Oh, but she's asleep! I've got to get her back for..."

"No, Bryce."

"Why? Oh, fine."

The rejected tech crossed his arms and huffed loudly. Alex only smiled. "As long as I'm around, you can't play any pranks on her."

Bryce turned to him and gave him a questionable look. "What's that supposed to mean, West?"

Alex grinned. "Because she'll blame it on me when you're the one to get in trouble!" Also grinning now, Bryce rolled his eyes.

"Yes, well we wouldn't want that now would we? You just watch... I'll get her _good_." Now it was Alex's turn to roll his eyes.

_Bryce has it in for her. Lara better watch herself._

"Finally! Bloody hell, I thought we'd never get here! Me bum is _still_ numb!" Lara put one hand on her tech's shoulder.

"Bryce, calm down. The important thing is, we're here. Now, where is baggage claim?" Bryce mumbled something. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Lara narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Oh, nothing." Bryce feigned innocence. "Just can't wait to get those bags!" And he went skipping away.

"_Please stand away from the baggage belt. Machine is starting. Please stand away from the baggage belt Machine is starting. Please-"_

Lara tensed at the mechanical voice and reached for a pistol. It was a good thing she had so much restraint or she would have whipped out her guns and taken out anything that even _looked_ like it was emitting that terrible voice. Suddenly, a different voice began to speak:

"Everyone, we are sorry for the delay, but there is a baggage jam inside of the machine, we are searching the problem out right now. It shouldn't be long. Please stay calm and we'll be finished as soon as possible. Thank you."

Numerous groans filled the airport and many people complained and cussed. Lara simply eyed the machine and studied it carefully. Deciding, she turned toward Alex and handed him her single carry-on. Without words, he knew what she was about to do.

"Lara," she turned to look at him, "be careful." She smiled and saluted him shortly. Then with one graceful leap, she was on the elevated part of the machine and headed toward the opening.

Lara crawled up the rubber mobile-belt and into the large silver chute that was supposed to emit the baggage. Behind her, she could hear people gasping and whispering about how crazy she was. But Lara knew inside, that everyone would be praising her when she found the problem. Swiftly, she made her way through the chute and was met with a sea of various colored baggage.

"All right... where is the problem."

Her words were more statement or threat than a question as her sharp eyes scanned the area. In no time, she spotted the conflict. Leaping onto different luggage, Lara directed herself toward a single bag that prohibited any further movement.

One swift kick collided with the brown suitcase and sent it flying in another direction; the belt began to move. Lara cringed as she heard the distinct sound of shattering glass. Shrugging, she lifted herself back onto the silver chute and slid down the mobile-belt. 

Applause greeted the Tomb Raider as Alex reached for her hand. Lara simply smiled, grabbed Alex's hand and waited for her respective luggage. In no time at all, Bryce was encumbered with the bags.

"Blimey! Why am I always the one to carry the bloody bags?"

Lara grinned. "Because you're so strong, Bryce. All that finger-pecking on your laptop pays off!" She watched as her tech gave her a murderous glare. Ruffling his already messy hair, Lara walked away.

Bryce shook his head and scoffed, "Lara's gonna get it _good_." Without another word, he grabbed a cart, loaded the luggage onto it, and hastily followed the tomb raiders.

Two hours later, the three adventurers found their hotel and all but one fell onto their respective beds in exhaustion. Lara just shook her head in disapproval at the two men in front of her.

"We just spent hours upon _hours_ sitting in horrid airline seats, and you want to sleep? Didn't you get enough rest on the craft?"

Alex looked at her through weary eyes. "Come on, Lara. Give us a break! Why don't you go take a shower or something and let us sleep?" He put on a puppy-dog face, "Pwease, Wara?"

Croft threw her hands into the air and walked toward the bathroom. Alex noticed that she muttered something about them being "impossible". To that, he only smiled. She knew that she couldn't get along without them.

Some time later, Bryce turned over to look at West.

"Good, he's asleep."

Quietly lifting himself off of his bed, he dove into one of his bags and produced a single Polaroid camera.

"For instant viewing," he chuckled mischievously and walked toward the bathroom. Silently turning the knob, he wasn't surprised to find that it was locked. But being the crafty tech that he was, Bryce pulled out a small box from his back pocket and opened it up.

He lifted a single black metal object and stuck it into the tiny hole on the knob. Bryce turned his tool and listened for the distinct _click_ of the lock. There it was. Carefully, Bryce turned the handle so slowly he felt like it took forever until the door finally opened just a crack. 

Steam came toward him from the minute opening of the door as he waited for the exact moment. Finally, his patience paid off. Lara pushed the glass door of the shower open and...

"Got ya!" Bryce thrust open the door and leapt into the room, simultaneously clicking the button on his camera. Not bothering to stick around, the tech immediately wheeled around and ran out of the room.

All the frantic criminal could hear behind him was: "I'm gonna kill you, Bryce!"

He believed her! Quickly, he darted into the connecting room of their hotel and locked the door. For the moment, he was safe.

Alex awoke from all of the commotion and looked bleary-eyed around the room. His mouth immediately fell open at the sight in front of him. Lara was dressed only in a short white towel and she was still dripping with water. Her long brown hair appeared to be black and tiny beads of water clung to her face, legs, and shoulders. If it weren't for her yelling and banging on the door to the other room, Alex would have thought she was an angel.

Grabbing his forehead, Alex spoke:

"Lara, it's not my birthday, why are you dressed in a towel?" He watched as the Tomb Raider stopped attacking the door and fixed him with a steely glare.

"This is no time to crack jokes, West. Bryce took a picture and he won't give it back!" Alex suddenly raised his eyes and Lara glared at his dumbfounded face.

"You mean, Bryce took a picture of you when you were coming out of the shower?" Lara nodded.

Not being able to control himself, Alex roared with laughter, oblivious to the deadly stare that Lara was sending his way. West rolled on his bed in a fit of hysterics. Tears came to his eyes.

"You know, you have to admit, Bryce got you _good_." Croft sighed and removed her murderous look from her face. Then she smiled.

"Yes, I suppose so." Then she turned back to the door. "But Bryce _WILL_ be giving back that photograph!"

Behind the oak door, Bryce only snickered and placed the photograph into his pocket. He was planning to give it to her anyway; he had just wanted to pay her back.


	20. Left in the Dark

The dark room suddenly was lit up with morning sunlight as Lara Croft threw back the blinds of the window in her male comrades' room.

"Rise and shine," she said. It wasn't a cheery welcome for joining the living again, it was an order. Reluctantly, Alex opened his eyes and immediately shaded them.

"Holy shit, Lara. I'm gonna go blind!" Lara watched as Alex rolled off of the bed and hit the floor. Disapprovingly, she shook her head and lightly kicked him in the side.

"West, we need to be off. I expect you ready in no more than ten minutes."

Alex groaned. She was such a difficult woman! Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Alex lifted himself up and went to the bathroom. Quickly, he disposed of his clothing and turned on the shower. He almost completely lost himself as the hot water rolled down his body. It enveloped him in a pleasant cocoon of warmth; the steam refreshed him and he was finally awake.

Ten minutes later, West was tying his shoes. Lara had resolved to wake up Bryce.

_Yeah right,_ Alex mumbled in his thoughts, _Bryce is impossible to wake up!_ But Lara seemed determined.

"Bryce, wake up!" The tomb raider shook the sleeping form, which was Bryce, angrily. "Ugh, he is incorrigible!"

She heard West laugh from where he sat, his hands went up to stifle it, but the damage had been done.

"Lara, you're going about it the wrong way. You can't just physically abuse him and expect the guy to wake up. You have to threaten him. Observe..."

Lara eyed Alex as he finished tying his shoe and walked over to Bryce's bed. Slowly, West lowered his head down to where Bryce slept and whispered into the tech's ear. In a split second, Bryce shot out of bed, his eyes wide and sweat starting to form on his brow. He looked panicked.

"Where is she? What did you do to her!" His yelling made Lara furrow her eyebrows in shock.

"Alex, what _exactly_ did you tell him?" West only smirked at her.

His eyes followed Bryce as the tech madly ran across the room; he grabbed a bag and fiercely ripped it open. Frantically, he rummaged inside of the bag and produced his laptop. An evident wave of relief spread over Bryce as he sunk to the floor, hugging his miniature computer in undeniable affection. Croft only rolled her eyes.

"Now that this pathetic display is over, would you mind us getting to work? We've wasted enough time already!" The two males of the party nodded and Bryce picked himself off of the floor and began to hook up his equipment. He spoke to Lara in a professional tone:

"Okay, this is your contact device. Attach it to your ear," he indicated her right ear and continued, "West, you get one as well. I will be able to communicate to you through these. And _these_," he tossed them both objects that appeared to be black leather watches, "are the means that _you_ will contact _me._" He only stopped to watch Lara and Alex nod before he continued, "Open your watch and you'll find a small computer. _Don't get this wet!_ It will go out automatically; unless you keep the flap down of course." He demonstrated with an example wristband and explained the rest of his equipment:

"Your computer is mainly a map. This map tells you temperature, elevation, population density, and geographical sites such as mountains, rivers... and yada yada yada. Now, you will also be able to contact each other if you get separated anywhere. Although, the devices don't reach over one hundred feet. However mine can reach you if you're just on the same channel." The tech smiled proudly and then came a stern look.

"So _don't_ get separated!"

Croft and West nodded like two little children before their teacher and adjusted their new gadgets.

"Bryce," Lara turned to him and smiled, "you don't mislead us, all right?"

The mischievous tech just grinned. "No worries there. Now, _you_ be careful. I'm not the one riskin' me arse..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Lara had ruffled his hair again and her and Alex were out the door.

Bryce sunk into his chair as he set up the remainder of his equipment. He ran his fingers through his clump of hair and sighed.

"Bugger," he cursed. "Where's that adaptor?"

Warm sunlight bathed the tomb raiders as they emerged from their hotel. Lara closed her eyes for a brief moment and inhaled the fresh air. No matter what may lie in store for her, Tuvalu was definitely a beautiful place. Quickly she headed down the sidewalk toward her next destination, her guns and ammo carefully stowed in her small backpack behind her.

Alex watched as Lara walked in front of him. She looked rugged yet ravishing in her black shorts and matching tank top. Her braided hair fell down her back, aligning perfectly with her spine. And then West found himself staring more than he ought to. He thought back to the other night when Lara had barged out of the bathroom in only a towel. His mind had gone crazy and he had to control himself from pouncing on her. After all, he _was_ a guy, and it's just not right for any warm-blooded male to ignore such a gorgeous woman when she's practically naked in front of him!

And then he found himself back on the streets of Tuvalu, Lara waving for him to hurry up. Alex complied and ran up to his comrade; she gave him a quick glare, but it was nothing baleful, possibly only a warning for him to keep up. Although, keeping up with Lara was something Alex would not pass up...

"West, do you mind? We need to make it to the shop so we can get our motorcycles. Hillary gave me the address this morning while you were _still sleeping_." She glared at him and he only gave her a goofy smile. She huffed, "I swear, you're starting to act more like Bryce every day."

West only shrugged, "At least I'm not 'pressing your buttons', eh?" Another ridiculous smile. Lara parted her lips and spoke:

"Mr. West, make a clear note that you will not be pressing _anything_ of mine, _especially_ my buttons." And with that, she accelerated and left Alex behind.

One hour later, the tomb raiders had succeeded in finding their motorcycles and headed toward their next destination. Alex, of course, had no idea where they were going. But then again, Lara _never_ told him anything...

"We're on our way to a specific archaeology site. It's been abandoned for years; maybe we'll find something," Lara spoke into her communication device to Alex as she sped along on her sleek motorcycle. Over the wind rushing past her, she made out Alex's voice through her earpiece.

"Why are we heading there? Aren't we supposed to be looking for the son of a bitch who invaded your house? I thought he was the reason we were here."

Lara rolled her eyes behind the visor of her dark helmet. She didn't like wasting breath, but she had to tell Alex _exactly_ what was going on.

"There's someone following us," she began. "They've been watching us since we arrived in Australia... or that's when I first sensed it. We're going to this archaeology site because it's secluded and out of the way. Whoever is following us, is surely pursuing us even as we speak. They'll be there... don't worry."

Alex suddenly felt diminished by her intelligence. She was clever all right, but a question still nagged his mind.

"Lara," he yelled over the wind, "why is this dig site abandoned? What drove everyone away?" In front of him, Lara smiled darkly and her definitive voice replied to him once more.

"There have been numerous murders committed there. It's said to be haunted."

Behind her, Alex caught his breath inside of himself. _Haunted?_- Doubtful. But he couldn't help but feel that they were getting themselves into more trouble than was revealed.


	21. Planned Capture

Both tomb raiders sped down the highway and soon found themselves in a sparsely populated area. In fact, there were no houses around at all and no human being could be seen.

Lara slowed down her motorcycle and peered out her shaded visor of her helmet. This was definitely it. As she had done it a hundred times, Lara expertly dismounted her bike and gave the kickstand a good nudge with her toe. Not bothering to see if Alex was there or not, she removed her helmet and began to walk off the road.

"Lara? There's nothing here but dirt and ocean. Are you sure this is the place?"

Alex West dismounted his bike less neatly than his female comrade, but he got off of it nevertheless. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he watched as Lara continued to walk away from him. West sighed. He knew that she wouldn't clue him in on anything. Lara always wanted people to find things out for themselves. Sometimes that could be a major lifesaver, but other times, it could mean sudden death.

Soon Lara stopped just shy of the coastline. The vast Pacific Ocean gleamed in front of her in all of its mysterious beauty and she felt her breath being taken away. Tuvalu was a tiny island with not many technological distractions. This, right here, was what everyone needed to appreciate. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Alex now made his way toward Lara, but didn't dare disturb her in her moment. She had said something about people following them? Alex looked around curiously. Well, it didn't _look_ like anyone was following. He'd think he would see _anyone_ if they were anywhere near the two tomb raiders. There was no one in sight!

Just then a small disturbance in the air caught Alex's attention and he whipped around to face Lara. She merely smiled.

"Lara, what's going on?" Alex's voice was somewhat nervous and on-edge. He had no idea what was going on. If only she'd _tell him_!

A grin played on Croft's face but she answered him:

"They're coming."

Alex sighed, "You're playing games with me, Lara. _Who_ is coming?"

"West, you simply can't know everything. If I had told you earlier, you might have not come. Now," she smiled mischievously, "you have to be captured just like me."

A faint _gulp_ came from the male's throat. _Captured?_ What on earth was she talking about? He knew that she had said something about people following them and about how they were going to be here and...

_Holy shit,_ he thought. He finally was enlightened.

"Lara! We can't just stand here and let them take us prisoner! We have to run away. Let's get back on our bikes and get the hell out of here!"

West grabbed her arm but she yanked it back. He furrowed his brow in confusion but she only placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Alex, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Honestly, do you think I would put myself into a position that I couldn't get out of?"

A small wink was directed at him and Alex slumped his shoulders.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Croft. I don't know about this... Just waiting for our fate. They're just gonna kill us!"

Lara _had_ to roll her eyes at this even if it wasn't the polite or aristocratic thing to do. Sometimes he could be so ignorant...

"They're not going to kill us, Alex. Think about it. We have something that they want and they have something that we wish to have as well. It's the whole game of keeping your enemy alive so you can help yourself! Honestly, it's so cliché, but..." she sighed outwardly and dramatically, "We must do what we must do."

Alex glared at her for a moment and she punched his arm lightly.

"You need to _trust me_, West. If you don't, you might find yourself in a situation that even I won't be able to get you out of. And that is saying something."

Noticing the long look his face was frozen in, she faced him more directly and placed both of her hands on his shoulders. Her voice was calm and reassuring:

"Look at me, Alex."

Far from reluctant, West moved his eyes to gaze into hers. Those eyes that he had so wished to look into in the morning, the face that he adored above all else now was in front of him again. The tension seemed to be washed away as she gently spoke to him:

"Everything will be fine. I thought you were braver than me, but apparently the tables have turned." She gave him a small smile. "Alex, they won't kill us, and you know why?"

He gave her a blank stare, but then a malevolent glint spread across her pupils. Her voice adorned a new emotion as she revealed the answer.

"Because we're going to kill _them_."

Just then the enemy was in sight. Four sleek, black helicopters hovered above them and twenty men jumped down to the ground where Lara and Alex stood. Each gun was aimed for different parts of their bodies. Lara didn't even flinch; this was merely routine, an expected occurrence. Alex had now composed himself and held the same defiant stare in his eyes. His posture gave away no hint toward his emotions.

"Lady Croft," a loudspeaker boomed, "we are here to collect you and bring you back to our employer. If you do not comply, we will be forced to kill your comrade and injure you to prevent escape. You have thirty seconds to comply."

Lara turned to Alex and laughed, her action confused a number of the men that surrounded her.

"So, I only have one choice, correct? Well, I suppose I could just run away and you could _try_ to kill this man right here. But I warn you: you won't live long enough to regret it. So how about you lay down those guns and let me climb into a helicopter. I'm not impressed by your display. You'll just have to acquiesce because _I_ am not one to be pushed around. So, if you don't mind..."

The tomb raider gestured with her hands for the mercenaries to holster their weapons. Every man looked at his companions and then up to whoever was in charge. Apparently, they weren't ready for Lara Croft.

"Do what she says, men. We have other ways of making sure that she is obedient. Move out!"

A graceful eyebrow arched as the men moved closer to Lara and Alex. In a split second, her pistols were un-holstered and she had grabbed one of the mercenaries and thrown him to the ground.

"This is _not_ the way it will be," her stern voice said. "My companion and I will walk _ourselves_ to the helicopters and no one will touch either of us. Is that understood?"

The man on the ground whimpered slightly under the heavy aim of Lara's twin pistols. Needless to say, someone didn't want to die.

"Back off, men. Return to your stations!"

When the soldiers had moved away, Lara holstered her weapons and reached a single hand toward the mercenary. He flinched and Lara smiled.

"I'm no threat to you, my friend. I think that you are the only one here that has sense enough to follow through with yourself instead of orders from others. I respect that."

The shocked man accepted her hand and let her pull him up. Quickly, he composed himself and gestured toward the chopper that would be carrying Lara and Alex.

"Why, thank you," Lara said politely. Alex nodded his thanks and they both climbed the steel ladders to the passenger-hold.

Soon the helicopters lifted farther into the air and the tomb raiders were taken to an unknown place where, surely, their main adversary awaited.


	22. Prisoners of Their Own Accord

Hours later, the spinning of the many helicopter blades ceased and the mercenaries piled out onto the unfamiliar territory. Unfamiliar for Lara and Alex, that is.

Dusk was approaching as Lara jumped from the helicopter and took in her surroundings.

A three-story building lay in front of her; windows were scattered about its surface and a barbed-wire fence set the boundaries. Security seemed to be lacking until Lara's eyes fell on a deep chasm, encircling the entire vicinity.

Lara tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in quiet thought. Catching the faint rushing and trickling sound of flowing water, her mind quickly scanned a detailed picture of what the actual terrain might look like.

Ever since Lara had first become an archaeologist, she had trained herself to predict the outcome of turning a corner, of taking another step. Every new mission or adventure added to her own private tomb that resided in the depths of her very mind. It had become a substantial part of her survival and she worked to sharpen and better attune it to her surroundings and/or situation to help the Tomb Raider in any predicament she found herself in.

Or willingly walked into, rather. For that, Alex could kill her.

"Calm down, West. You'd think I'd just gotten us into a heavy ordeal! Relax. Everything will be fine."

But no matter how Lara tried to comfort her comrade, his conviction in their downfall would not waver. He was convinced that they had just skipped along merrily into their torturous doom.

But Lara thought different.

"Come along, Croft!" A mercenary barked loudly and roughly prodded her in the back with the barrel of his gun.

Then, in a split second, Lara whipped around, thrusting the rifle upward to point at the possessor's throat, just under his chin. The man stood stock still as Lara eyed him.

"You have extreme bravery for pulling such an impudent stunt like that, soldier," she said coolly. But then her tone changed and became absolutely acrid. "Either that," she spat, "or incredibly stupid."

The mercenary chose not to answer, but yet gesture with an elegant swoop of his hand.

"That's more like it," Lara said, releasing her hold on the rifle. And then an unfamiliar voice sounded, giving her an abrupt start.

"Lady Croft, please forgive my servants. They do not wish to harm you in any way."

Lara watched carefully as a tall black haired man, clad in equally dark clothing appeared through the midst of the soldiers.

_'It's like Moses parting the Red Sea,' _she thought briefly.

But Lara was not wrong, for each mercenary, whom had all stayed frozen in place and ready to attack, now parted as if by some higher power, omnipotent force. His soothingly dark and mysterious voice fluttered into her ears once again as Alex stepped closer to her.

"As you can see," the man boomed, "we have not taken your weapons, Lady Croft." And then sneering shortly, he let his eyes inspect Alex West. "Nor you, sir."

West clenched his fists together and silently challenged the ebony haired man. Luckily, Lara stepped in.

"Such a proclaimed act gives grounds for assumption of arrogance." Her light British accent floated on the air toward the lead mercenary. His eyes narrowed for a moment, but then a hearty laugh exploded from him and split the night air as cleanly and easily as tearing the wings from a butterfly.

"You would assume much to call me arrogant, Lady Croft. It is not as if I could take action against any of your assaults. But some..." He trailed off, but everyone knew exactly where the conversation was turning.

Anger boiled inside of Alex. He couldn't contain himself.

"Listen, asshole, if you want to play dirty, I'm game. But you don't drag ladies into your savage amusements!"

The night cloaked the world around them even more and torches were lit to provide faint light. The lead mercenary stepped closer to Alex and Lara, his muscular form evident underneath fitting black attire. He stopped at an intimidating distance from the tomb raiders and glared into Alex's eyes. The firelight accented the two men as they stared each other down like lions picking out the weakest gazelle from the heard.

"I think I know just as you do, sir, that Lara Croft is by far no regular woman. Considering her a lady would be an overstatement; no lady would do the things she does."

Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of a sudden, his thoughts formed into harsh words upon his tongue:

"Lara is the most sophisticated and amazing _lady _you will ever encounter! You, standing here, doubting her aristocracy is just as dangerous as knowing her skill with a firearm. They both can kill. I don't think you realize, _sir_, what you're up against. I think that you need her because you're too incompetent to find the damn artifact for yourself! You need her to dig up your lost treasure. But you know, when you go up against Lara Croft, you need to remember one thing."

The man opposite West smirked and gave Alex a challenging look.

"And what might that be, 'Almighty Croft Expert'?"

Every mercenary that circled the trio hollered with laughter, but Alex's face remained grave serious as he duplicated the menacing look the lead mercenary had given him. Alex forced his fiery eyes to stare solidly into his opponents.

"You want to memorize your escape route," he whispered, "'cause when Lara Croft comes after you, you better know where to run."

Silence spread like a plague. No person uttered a sound as Alex's eerie speech echoed in the darkened chambers of their minds. Finally, the lead mercenary spoke:

"Enough of this!" He bellowed. "Throw them in a cell and leave them there until I call. Tomorrow, we set out! 0500 hours!"

All Alex could feel was rough arms yanking him through the opening of a barbed wire fence. Then in a matter of minutes, he was flung into a damp cell, followed by Lara. When the sharp clang of metal sounded, and the rattling of keys died, Alex knew that they were alone.

"That was a nice thing you did, West."

Alex turned toward Lara and stared at her blankly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

He sat on the damp ground and rubbed his temples as they throbbed. He didn't notice Lara inch toward him from the opposite side of the containment. It was only when she placed her hand on his knee when he suddenly became alert of his surroundings.

"Lara..." He started, but was interrupted by her.

"Shh," she said and smacked him lightly on the mouth. He smiled at her and she returned it.

"You know, you're really changing, West. I don't know what it is, but you're not the same person you were a few years ago." She paused for a moment and bit her lip. "And apparently, I'm a _'sophisticated and amazing lady'_."

"Yeah, about that..."

"No, don't say anything. I'm sure it was just an impulse and you directed your anger that you held against me toward the main mercenary. Don't explain."

"Lara, that's not true! I..."

He heard Lara laugh shortly.

"I believe you, West. I'm just pulling your leg! But you don't understand. You _are_ changing! You _weren't_ going to steal the Amulet, you helped Bryce, Hillary, and I defend it at the manor, and now you're thousands of miles away from your home because I simply asked it of you." She grinned at him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You're different."

West raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, I guess I am as great as you say."

"Oh, now let's not get too much into this," Lara scolded him and punched him on the arm.

But before she could say anything further, Alex pulled her closer and kissed her with the passion of years of waiting.


	23. Tongariro Andesite Massif

Lara's ears perked up to the sound of a low, guttural voice speaking her name. Slowly, her eyelids separated from their stationary positions and she peered out from the darkness to the silhouetted figure behind the long iron bars. The man murmured her name once more into her and Alex's irriguous confinement, then he was silent.

Canvassing her surroundings carefully before she rose, Lara instinctively placed one hand to her gun-belt and inched toward the motionless person on the opposite side of the bars. Lara could barely detect any sign that he was even breathing; an evanescent thought came to her mind that he looked rather like a static photograph, one that a person might see at an art gallery. But then she truly recognized him. He was the man whom she had spoken with before even boarding the helicopters.

"Hello," the man said meekly.

Croft had to scrutinize the man for a moment before she spoke. Had his voice not sounded menacing a moment ago? Perhaps it was the crude accommodations that drove her to so poorly discern her situation. Relieving herself from her thoughts, Croft nodded to the man opposite her. She watched as a single light flooded into the aphotic room from an unseen doorway; the area where they stood was now decently lit for conversation.

"Lady Croft, I'm afraid it's five o'clock, time to go."

Unmoving, the tomb raider stood there for a moment, one slender finger playing with the handle of her gun inside of its holster.

"I never got your name, soldier," she said authoritatively. The man's eyes traveled to the floor for a moment but then he returned her emotionless gaze.

"I...I'm Tom Lerone," he said nervously, giving her twin pistols a cursory glance.

Lara didn't need to follow his eyes to know that Tom was afraid of Lara and her precious firearms. She felt pity for this particular mercenary; in fact, she had a completely different perspective of him. He didn't act like a soldier, at least not like the others that she had encountered so far. There was undoubtedly something distinct and separate about him.

"Hello, Tom," Lara said kindly, as if the pair had never met before. "My name is Lara Croft."

She watched his tight face form an apprehensive smile.

"You seem very uptight about something, Tom. May I inquire as to what?"

The smile disappeared and Tom Lerone fell silent. His eyes sunk to the floor again and he couldn't keep still; Lara's eyes were intently on him, but it only made him more nervous. Observing him briefly, Lara knew what was on his mind.

"Taking cognizance of you, Mr. Lerone, I'd say that your loyalty to whomever you are serving here is factitious. I believe other thoughts govern your mind."

If it weren't for the door slamming open, Tom would have told Lara _exactly_ what he was thinking. But unluckily, another mercenary trudged into the room, positively spewing belligerence.

"TOM! We told you to shove Croft out of her cell! What the 'ell do you think you're doin'? Grab the bitch, kick the guy 'til he's awake, and let's get the hell out of here! Vlad's not gonna be happy if we dick around too much! We're on a time limit here..."

Tom watched as his fellow soldier walked back out of the room until he chose to speak again:

"I'm sorry about this, Lara. Could you wake up your friend?"

"His name is Alex West. Make sure you spread that around; I'm not positive he likes being called otherwise."

Tom smiled at her. When the two tomb raiders were sufficiently awake, the trio headed outside and into the new morning. Darkness refused to let go of the skies, but soon the sun would take over and rise to its full glory; darkness would not prevail for long.

_That goes for this 'Vlad' as well,_ Lara thought darkly.

"Croft, so nice of you to join us! And you... sir."

"His name is Alex West, Commander." Tom whispered to Vladimir. Vlad gave the soldier a sour smile and waved him away.

"Throw these two in a chopper and let's be on our way."

That was three hours ago. Now the groups of helicopters were flying to their specified destination; Lara and Alex would have to wait to see exactly where they were going. And then five hours passed. Croft had a vague idea of where they were being taken, but she wasn't sure. All she knew was that what Vladimir and his mercenaries wanted to find, she had to prevent them from taking.

When the shuddering of the helicopter blades ceased to shake the interior, Lara opened her eyes and peered out an adjacent window. The amount of greenery she saw was breathtaking; this meant that they could only be in one place.

"Alex. Alex. ALEX, wake up!"

"Wha...? Where are we?"

"New Zealand."

"Ah."

"Yes, and it seems that we're not quite through with our journey. They're refueling; we've got a bit more ways to go."

"Wake me up when we get there then."

Lara sighed. He could be so difficult sometimes... But her thoughts were derailed when the door opposite her swung open to reveal Commander Vladimir.

"Lady Croft, we'll be traveling for another three hours if that suits you fine. We're heading deeper into the country, and there will lie our objective, which you will help us obtain. Of course, if you choose not to assist us, there will be a small price to pay..."

Lara watched as Vladimir's hidden left arm now pulled away from behind the open door. He was holding the collar of Bryce's shirt.

She felt her mouth drop and her eyes lose their emotionless stare. How could Vladimir have tracked Bryce down and captured him? But her answer walked up to the helicopter.

"Hello, Lara."

It was Willem Parse- the man she had met on the plane. He was working against her! He had spied on them! Carefully, Lara changed her expression from mildly shocked to "piss off and leave me alone". But her eyes still trained on Bryce.

"Lara," her tech said softly, "I'm sorry; they just came and there was nothing I could do! And they found the..."

"The Amulet," Vlad finished. "And such a beauty it is, Lady Croft. I wonder... is this boy here close enough to you to force your assistance? Or will we have to find new means of... persuasion?"

From his leather belt, Vlad produced a single blade and held it up to Bryce's face. Lara felt nothing but contempt as she immediately un-holstered her pistols and aimed them directly for Vladimir's head. Her gaze was penetrating in its defiance; her full lips curled into a sneer as rage poured from every ounce of her being. If Vladimir hurt Bryce, there wouldn't be anything left of the commander after Lara was through with him.

A low laugh filled her ears. "Lara, Lara, Lara. You can't kill me yet! And besides, even if you shoot me, I have men all around this area. If you shoot me, you'll never see this little boy again."

"I'm not a little boy, you wanker! I'm a bloody adult, now piss off!" Bryce squirmed but couldn't get away. It seemed like all was hopeless; Lara would have to acquiesce. Her steely gaze faded none as she spoke:

"Now that you've given me even more reason, Mr. Vladimir, I will surely kill you. Bringing Bryce into the matter only sealed your own fate." She lowered her weapons and holstered them.

Vladimir merely stared at her for a moment before he sheathed his knife and threw Bryce toward Willem, who caught him and led him to a nearby helicopter. The commander smiled at Lara mischievously.

"We shall see, Lady Croft. If you are as good as everyone says you are, I shall die. But possibly, not by your hands..."

And with that, he shut the door.

Lara was there to ponder what he said, and for three hours, she did. And in those three hours, the helicopters made their way to their final destination.

The day dwindled as the mercenaries, Lara, Bryce, and Alex jumped from their helicopters. The trio was forced apart as they followed Vladimir. Seemingly, the soldiers seemed to have thought that splitting up the three would have done them good. But no... they were wrong again.

Now Lara could see exactly where they were going. They were headed toward an active volcano site; but not only one volcano resided there. There were twelve- twelve active vents for a massif. Why did they have to be_ here_?

"They say one eruption happens every fifty years," Vladimir yelled back to the lines that followed him. "It's been fifty-two since the last one."

Behind her, Lara heard Bryce groan. Truthfully, she wasn't too thrilled about being there either; these volcanoes could erupt at any given moment. She proceeded more cautiously after that.

But there was no need to continue their trek. Vladimir stopped in front of a large rock formation and reached into his pockets; he then placed both amulets onto the solidified lava.

Suddenly the ground began to shake. Everyone's eyes darted toward the surrounding volcanoes, but that was not the case. The rock that Vlad had placed the amulets on now deliquesced and formed a gaping hole in the ground. Before their very eyes, the blackened lava formed a solid set of stairs that led into the ground. Expressing no fear, the commander headed down the stairs and into the dark.

Lara was one step closer to what she had secretly dreaded the entire time.


	24. The Amulet of Ilse

Warm, musty air filled everyone's nostrils as the mercenaries, tomb raiders, and tech traveled deeper underground. The walls on either side of the group continued to become more narrow as they pressed on; no one felt comfortable in such tight quarters, but Vladimir merely barked at them to keep moving. As they kept walking, however, the walls tightened horrendously, forcing the mercenaries to throw their packs behind them; some men even had to stay behind because they could not shuffle between the tight hall.

Lara took small, controlled breaths as the tunnel pressed tighter to her chest. Not being able to fill her lungs with pure air made her slightly dizzy, and the solidified lava that she faced and moved against scratched her arms and face. The soldiers that had been between the tomb raider and Bryce had stayed behind, so now Lara could hear her tech whine as he felt the effects of the cramped space as well.

The hallway seemed to go on forever; there was no room to talk, let alone breathe efficiently. Then, as if their every wish had been answered, the walls split and opened into a small, square chamber.

"It's a dead end," Bryce whimpered as he took deep gulps of air. "Where now?"

But Lara had already trained her eyes on Vladimir who was now pushing his followers back. The room was a relief from the suffocating corridor, but every person began to feel anxious and the body count made the already sweltering temperature rise. Croft couldn't even fathom how she managed to remain breathing as each mercenary backed her into a jagged corner; Alex and Bryce smashed up against her and she felt the first effects of unconsciousness.

And then the whole room began to shake. The panicked cries of the hired soldiers filled the crowded room to the point of deafening. Some even squeezed their way back through the narrow corridor to escape whatever wrath lied in wait for them. But as the rumbling progressed, a circular doorway formed per the result of Vladimir pressing the two amulets roughly into subtle markings that resided on the wall.

Suddenly, screams of anguish fluttered into Lara's ears. The corridor they had entered from was closing! Slowly, the walls pressed together until they finally joined; the sickening crack of bones and sloshing sound of bodily fluids were unmistakable as each mercenary who had attempted to flee, now became part of the tomb's grotesque decor.

In somewhat of a trance, Lara felt the tug of Alex's hand on her arm as he led her through the newly-opened doorway. Making sure that Bryce was in tow, Croft stepped over the threshold and into the darkness.

The silence of the remaining group only made the situation worse; the darkness enveloped them in mystery and terrifying suspense. What was in this new room? What waited for them in the foul recesses of this chamber? But Lara knew. Lara knew exactly what awaited them, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Vlad felt his way through the caliginosity until he reached, what he thought was, a pyre of some fashion. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a single match, struck it, and tossed it into the metallic structure. In the blink of an eye, the pyre caught the match's flame and the fire sprung from the bowl and into the air; it finally settled, but still left a bright glow that accented the cabalistic chamber.

Lara found herself entranced by the radiance of the sights that she now beheld. As the commander lit each and every pyre, Lara watched the glow reflect off of the golden columns that were now visible. She now stood on the farthest point from Vladimir who was lighting the last pyre. Inspecting as she walked, the tomb raider made her way down a small set of stairs and found herself between two sets of golden columns. Both sets reached all the way down to the end of the chamber and each had a peculiar inscription on them. They were...

"A beauty to behold, is it not, Lady Croft?"

Lara's gaze now focused on the man a fair distance away from her. Her eyes narrowed as he smiled at her.

"I know what you're doing and it cannot be done, Vladimir! You do not know what you are dealing with- _whom_ you are dealing with." She placed her hands on both of her pistols. "I'm afraid I cannot let you carry out this foolish act."

The commander's grin grew broader as he positioned himself on an engraved circle on the floor. As he did, the flames in each pyre grew steadier in their flickering; the heat that filled the room intensified, and so did Lara's grip on the handles of her guns.

Vlad wagged a finger at the tomb raider and then pointed to the shining rings of gold that he stood inside.

"You wouldn't want to spill blood on this engraving, Croft. If you do, the tables will not take as long to pass their mark on their journeys backward. Oh no, they'll do it in _half_ the time. And you might be wondering why? Well I'll tell you." He gave her a smug look. "You might think I'm ignorant as to what is to be unleashed when I don these amulets, Lady Croft, but I assure you that I am not. In fact, I've carefully planned everything out; and trust me, it will be most _fulfilling._"

Then sharply snapping his fingers, the mercenaries who still retained their guns, immediately directed their aim toward their latest capture- Bryce.

"I'm afraid to gain is to lose, Croft. And unfortunately, to be in possession of the world means a small sacrifice will be in order; but do not fret! You won't be alive long enough to suffer through too much pain."

Gritting her teeth, Lara watched as her friend was hauled to the other side of the chamber by five burly men; held at gunpoint, she was unable to help. She knew that the situation must have been terrifying for Bryce, but he uttered no cry for help. Lara admired him deeply for his bravery. Then she watched as they threw the tech into the circle; one soldier pulled back Bryce's unkempt hair and forced his head back to expose the tender flesh of his neck. They were going to slit his throat.

"I'll give you a moment to say your last goodbyes, Croft," Vladimir said haughtily. "And then I'm afraid it's time for this little boy to die. Didn't I mention this before? Blood spilt on this engraving is wonderful, but if there is a true sacrifice in this very circle with the live victim's bloodshed, the tables will take no more than ten minutes to fully corrupt the entire world. Sorry if I forgot to mention it."

Thinking quickly, Lara traversed the length of the chamber and paused when Vladimir would let her no further. Standing a good ten feet away from Bryce, Lara smiled at him and watched as the pained look that he was giving her tried to fade away; but he could not hide his fear and Croft understood. Lowering her voice, Lara spoke almost in a whisper:

"I'm sorry, Bryce."

But before the mercenary could run the blade across the tech's neck, Lara rapidly un-holstered one pistol and pulled the trigger a single time. When the echoing of the fired bullet died, everyone in the chamber stared at the female tomb raider as she looked into Bryce's eyes. A shocked expression appeared on his face as sudden tears spilled from his eyes; then without another sound, Bryce's body fell over with a soft _thud_.

Lara could feel the heat of the room and it wasn't from the fire. Vladimir was fuming; Lara had ruined his plans.

"You bitch!" He screamed at her. "You've ruined everything!"

Lara gave him an ironic look.

"Oh, you mean you need a _live_ sacrifice to speed up the tables? Dreadfully sorry, old chum. I'm afraid I didn't know."

Pure acid leaked from the commander's mouth as he tried to speak; no words formed, only stuttering and maddened screams. But then he narrowed his eyes at Lara Croft and grinned maliciously.

"No matter," he said, trying to compose himself. "We always have that other Tomb Raider, what's-his-name. Men, grab hi..."

"I don't think so," Lara said, stepping backward and drawing her second firearm. "Your plans have failed, Vladimir. Give it up while you're still alive."

But as stubborn as the commander was, he kicked Bryce's body aside and let it roll limply down the small set of stairs; if he had waited a moment longer, the first drop of Bryce's blood would have fallen. But Vlad himself now entered the protection of the engraving and crossed his arms in arrogance. Lara briefly remembered their previous conversation about that particular issue, but decided to drop it. She had to do what she must to prevent anyone from unleashing the terrors of those amulets.

"As you can see, _Croft_," Vladimir spat. "It is _you_ who have lost; not I. Now put down your weapons like a good girl and this will all be over very, very soon."

And then he donned the Amulet of Ilse.

As before, the room began to shake, but now it became so violent that it threw the mercenaries and tomb raiders from their feet. The flames in the pyres became dangerously low as the very walls of the underground structure began to crack from the intense force of the quake. Taking this time, Lara holstered her weapons and scrambled as fast as she could toward her tech. Grabbing him underneath his arms, she struggled with him until he was safely in a back corner of the chamber, far away from the falling debris and soldiers. As she situated him, she heard him moan in protest.

"You shot me," he mumbled.

Lara smiled and felt a warm tear slide down her face. She ruffled Bryce's hair and let her hand come to rest on his cheek.

"It's better than being a sacrifice to the unspeakable to further the destruction of the world," she said evenly as he continued to moan. "Oh, don't be such a baby. You'll be fine; I promise."

"I don't think I will. Bloody hell, it hurts! I'm not letting you shoot anyone ever again! I never realized how much pain was involved..."

Lara simply shook her head and ordered him to be quiet as she made her way toward Vladimir once again. The room had stopped shaking, but the tables had just begun to spin.


	25. A Commander's Demise

The violent tremors had kept every mercenary and tomb raider from their feet. Lara had held fast to one of the many golden columns, yet her eyes never moved from the center of that engraving. Vladimir even now, still occupied the small circle, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. Croft had prayed that the quake would stop in time for her to take action; Vladimir wouldn't be off guard for very long.

And the shaking stopped. That single element of the situation meant that another event was about to occur- The spinning of the Tables.

"A catalyst, if you will, Miss Croft," Vladimir boasted as he held his own arm in front of him. "Blood, spilled in this very circle, will speed up the entire reaction."

"You've already told me this Vladimir!" Lara yelled. "But it won't matter if you speed it up; your demise will come regardless."

"You seem so sure, Lady Croft. But please, allow me to demonstrate the actual _power_ of this artifact..."

"_It has no power!_" Lara yelled in exasperation. "Don't you see, Vladimir? The Amulet will unleash a demon upon the world. Mass destruction will ensue and everyone will _die._ You fail to acknowledge this particular piece of truth!"

But the mercenary merely smiled and took a blade to his right forearm.

"To spill my blood is to ensure the power that I am about to receive."

"The only thing being spilt will be your brains on that wall," Lara spat.

"Oh, Lara, why be so graphic? You will be spared; spared as in a quick death, that is. Or if you keep pestering me, I might put in an extra hour of torture for your friends."

He grasped the blade tighter.

Lara snarled, "Take it to your wrist, Vlad, dearest. And make sure to cut up and down, not side to side."

As the cold metal approached his skin, it reflected the fire around them. The gold that embellished the Amulet of Ilse shone brightly; it seemed to know that its time was nearing.

Lara raised her weapons and aimed them straight for the mercenary leader's head. Her hands remained steady as a result of years of comfort with firearms. Her gaze was threatening, her pulse steady.

"Really, Lara, do you think your shot will be _that_ clean? We don't want too much blood, or the result might happen _too_ quickly."

And the tiny splatters of blood dropped on the engraving. There was nothing that Lara could do.

Suddenly, a deafening screech filled the chamber. It echoed so loudly that Lara dropped her guns and clutched her ears in agony. The fire in the pyres grew so intensely, that the heat was now unbearable and sweat poured down the Tomb Raider's face. Even the ground burned. The screams of the remaining mercenaries could barely be heard over the piercing tone. Then as if everyone's wish had been answered- silence.

Feeling as if her lungs had been released from a deathly clutch, Lara lied on the floor for a moment, hands still clutching her ears. Shakily, she rose to her feet and fumbled for her weapons.

"Ow!"

But the heat had found a nice home in the metal of her pistols and it wasn't planning to move out anytime soon. Lara could almost see her guns glow with red heat; to touch them again would be a nasty ordeal. Now looking around, Croft stood in a ready stance; her eyes settled on Vladimir, his form still hovering in the center of the engraving.

"Lara!" Someone cried.

The tomb raider looked above her and there was Alex West, sweat dripping from every inch of him. He clung to the top of a damaged pillar.

"Lara, what's next? There's nothing we can do!"

_Oh, but there is,_ Lara thought. _Vladimir doesn't entirely realize what he's just done._

The mercenary leader stirred. The amulet still hung around his neck, but somehow it appeared precarious. But it was; and before Vlad could do anything, the Amulet of Ilse released itself from Vladimir's neck and disappeared.

"No! No! What happened?" Vlad screamed in frustration. "Where is the Amulet!"

Croft shook her head. "Vlad, it's over. Now, come with me and we'll get out of here. There's nothing else you can do."

But before he could reply, the commander felt himself being torn apart from the inside. Lara heard the distinct crack of bones as Vlad hunched over in pain. He was unable to retain balance and his knees gave out. Without warning, Vladimir's skull split open and the white bone shone through the gap in his forehead. Blood trickled down his face and fell to the floor; each drop that touch the ground made the circle glow even brighter.

Both Tomb Raiders exchanged looks of terror. This was what Lara was waiting for- the real sacrifice. Now Vlad would die and the demon would live because of it. The real challenge was about to begin.

The question was, could they stop the demon from coming at all?

_The brother._

"Alex! Alex, where is the brother amulet?"

The male tomb raider looked around in panic.

"Alex!" Lara screamed.

"It's there!" He said frantically. "Still with Vlad, in the middle of the circle. But, Lara, you can't go in there! Do you see what's happening to him? Lara, NO!"

Words were lost to Croft as she sprinted toward the engraving. Within seconds, she was closer to the remains of Vlad; now his eyes were shrinking, begging for fluid to make them whole again. His face sunk in and his cheek bones pierced through his skin. But Lara did not pay any attention. Quickly, she dove across Vlad's mangled body. Her hand, as she flew by, grabbed the second amulet.

Sailing through the air, Lara prepared for a crash. Her body smashed into the opposite wall, bruising her left side. But she had the second amulet- the artifact that Vladimir had possessed when Lara had the Amulet of Ilse. She inspected it for a moment and it finally dawned on her what _exactly_ this amulet was made for.

_The Pacific Amulet,_ she thought to herself. _He found it in the water and I found Ilse in a cave. They were so close together that no one would guess that they were there the whole time. If donning the Amulet of Ilse brings the devil, the Pacific Amulet will drive it back into Hell._

Scrambling to her feet, Lara only flinched momentarily as she ran back to where Alex was perched. Her side ached excruciatingly.

"West, catch."

"Got it," he replied as the amulet flew into his hands. "But what do we do with it?"

That was the part that Lara, herself, was not anticipating.

"West, when it's distracted, you need to slip it around its neck. I will be the diversion and you..."

"No!" The tomb raider yelled down to her. "I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for this! There's got to be another way..."

"There_ is_ no other way, Alex!" Lara said desperately. "This needs to be done and I know that you understand. So please just do what I say."

A painful look spread across West's face. "Be careful, Lara."

Croft smirked as she picked up her cooled pistols from the ground. Spinning them sharply on her fingers, she holstered them and gave her comrade a sly wink.

"Aren't I always?"

And then her attention turned toward the circle. The shrieks of pain had ceased and now all that was left was the remains of Commander Vladimir. His face, distorted, his body, split in half. Lara's iron gut was all that saved her from vomiting on the spot. Each mercenary that had witnessed this grotesque scene now hid himself from sight; Lara could even hear some of them vomiting in the dark. Now in Vladimir's place, the circle held a demon of great proportion.

Its body seemed to be formed of air; a blood-red color was all that distinguished it from being invisible. When it turned around, the eyes of Vladimir could be seen, but only for a moment. The pupils grew to the size of marbles and the rest became a menacing, depraved orange and yellow. Thick horns jutted from the solid skull, they twisted and thrust themselves higher, curling forward. It took a more human shape for it had devoured a human soul and human flesh.

The former organs of the now deceased commander still twirled in midair; they finally joined together and were sucked into the demon's body. Lara could only watch the horror that had been unleashed before her very eyes, as it now spread open its arms and roared in anger. The chthonic entity now stood before her in all of its hellish glory. Its arm span, three times the length of Lara.

Gritting her teeth, the tomb raider un-holstered her weapons and gripped them tightly. With one look toward Alex, she approached the demon as it became aware of her presence. Red eyes blaring, it charged.


	26. Fate of the World

Everything progressed in slow motion as the demon charged toward Lara. In those few precious seconds, the Tomb Raider's mind and senses snapped to attention. As her senses heightened, her nostrils picked up the raw stench of flesh and steam. Her very skin rapidly perspired and threatened to melt away. The flames in the pyres intensified to the point of blinding as the demon gained speed. Somewhere, someone yelled in a panic, but Lara was mentally elsewhere. She was simply transfixed by the monster's form as the fire made its body glisten.

_Come on Lara. Move!_

Not a second too soon. Croft leaped out of the way, her assailant barely grazing the tip of her boots. The beast roared with anger as it spun around, losing its momentum. Guns at the ready, Lara stared down her opponent. It glared back, whipping and cracking its long tail.

Then the beast charged again. This time, Lara didn't watch it happen; she immediately pulled both of the triggers on her guns and let the bullets fly. The Tomb Raider's precise aim couldn't have saved her if she wanted it to.

As each bullet headed toward its mark, Lara's eyes grew with sudden shock. Impact was never obtained. Each point of entry rippled like disturbed water; motion slowed somewhat and Lara watched her bullets as they spun through the almost-transparent demon. The red wisps that filled the beast's body elegantly swirled and distorted as the chest and abdomen received the bullets. All natural law was broken as Lara, at normal pace, observed the pieces of metal travel in slow motion.

When the pointed tips emerged from the demon's back, momentum grabbed the bullets, full force, and shot them forward. The sound of stone could be heard as shards split from a wall and fell to the floor. Lara was privately horrified.

_It can touch her but it's not tangible?_

Rapidly, Croft holstered her pistols and ran to the end of the chamber, toward Commander Vladimir's former body. Hesitating for merely a mental second, Lara Croft stepped into the circular engraving. Her back to the demon, she could hear it snarl. Hopefully, her ideas were correct; hopefully, Croft hadn't assumed too much. If she had, it would all be over right now.

She let a moment pass, her back to the rest of the chamber. Taking a deep breath, Lara placed her hands on her guns and slowly turned around.

Her blood ran cold.

Centimeters in front of her was the monster's face, its fiery eyes staring directly into hers. Oddly entrance, Lara found herself unable to move. Inside she knew she was safe, but those menacing eyes bored down on her, making the bold tomb raider feel like a child. An unexpected voice startled Lara; as much as she tried not to be afraid, an overwhelming sense of fear crept over her.

_Step out, _it whispered, _Now._

"Ah!"

Lara suddenly screamed as something grabbed her ankle. Looking down, she saw the empty holes of Vladimir's skeleton facing her, vainly trying to hold her image in its lost eyes. In disbelief, she stared at the remnants of flesh, still gripping to its former self. Crimson blood was splashed on the milk-white bones; Lara could feel the cold grip of Vladimir's half-remaining hand even through the thick material of her boots.

"Help me!" It screamed, though it had no vocal cords.

Lara's mouth had been agape the entire time, but now she set her jaw firmly and addressed the Commander's peeling flesh.

"No," she said shortly. "I cannot help you when I did not bring this upon you. You did this yourself, _you fix it._"

The skeleton's eye sockets would have narrowed if they could, but all it was allowed to do was stare with the same empty gaze. Suddenly, it screamed:

"You will help me, Croft! Or you will _die!_"

Without warning, Vladimir's remnants leapt onto Lara, slashing at her face with its bone-hands. Despite the fact that its muscles were no longer present, Lara was struggling to keep the undead Commander away. She had no idea what was powering him, but she knew that she wouldn't let a sack of bones be her demise. As it pinned her to the ground, Vlad's face appeared directly above hers. Now she could appreciate how truly gruesome he was. Bits of skin and tissue still slung to his mouth, forming no more than half of his top and bottom lip. Not letting the situation get the best of her, Lara kept her expressions to a minimum.

"You don't know how to dispose of the demon," Vlad's half-lips stated. "Bringing me back will only help."

"And how do I know that once I do bring you back, you won't just turn against me?"

"This demon is more powerful than I thought; I cannot control it. I have but one choice and that is to assist you. Besides, the Pacific Amulet will do more than help."

Croft narrowed her eyes. _He was lying_. But truthfully, Lara did not know how to destroy the monster that still watched her from outside the circle. If she threw Vlad out of the engraving, what would happen? There was no room for error. _She wished she knew what to do!_

"Lara!"

The tomb raider looked past Vladimir and spotted Alex, still clinging to a pillar above the room. She hoped that the demon wouldn't turn its attention toward Alex. Glancing at the entity, however, Lara saw that it still was focused on _her_. It appeared as if... as if it was waiting for her to do something. But what?

"Lara, what are you going to do? You can't shoot it, it's too powerful! Throw Vlad out and let the monster rip him apart!"

An epiphany.

_Help me..._

_Let it rip him apart..._

_Bringing me back will only help..._

_You don't know how to dispose of the demon..._

_The Pacific Amulet will do more than help..._

"No," Lara murmured. Thoughts ran through her mind and she came to a sudden realization. Snapping out of a daze, she looked up at Alex, at Vlad, and at the demon. This was a puzzle and all of the pieces were there, she just didn't see it. She couldn't touch the monster, but she could touch Vlad. The monster was a manifestation of Vladimir's life and body. Vlad was trying to trick her. To everyone's surprise, Croft let out a laugh.

"How sweet it is," she said, smiling. Catching Vlad off-guard, Lara flipped him off of her, careful to keep him inside of the engraving. She stood up.

"If you want to leave so much, Vladimir, _do it._ Apparently, you have enough strength to attack me, so why not use it to stand up and _walk_ _out?_"

The skeleton remained silent. Its remaining lips hung loosely and nothing was spoken.

"That's right, don't say anything, _because you can't_." She turned toward the demon, its eyes intent and masking confusion.

"You are some ventriloquist," Croft complimented. "But taking the rest of this body out of the engraving would only make you stronger. You are not complete and you _hate_ it, don't you? You're not as strong as you could be and it _kills_ you, doesn't it?" She smiled.

"And I'm here to make sure that nothing makes you happy."

The demon insides turned a blood-red, signifying its intense anger. It didn't want to be figured out.

"Alex!" Lara yelled to him. "Come down here and hand me the Amulet."

Her companion's face fell. "Are you _crazy?_" He yelled back. "It'll rip me apart!"

"No," Lara whispered, "it won't. Trust me, West. Come down here and give me the Amulet."

Slowly, West made his way down the column mumbling on his way down:

"Jesus Christ... lost her mind... never gonna live through this..." Finally, he reached the ground and he became stock still. The blazing entity turned toward him and roared with wrath. West plastered himself against the base of the column, breathing hard. This was what he considered as suicide.

"Come on, Alex. It can't hurt you! As long as you have the Amulet, you can't be touched. _Trust Me._"

Taking a deep breath, West took a furtive step forward. Never taking his eyes off of the larger form in front of him, he neared the engraving. Every step he took was monitored closely by orange and yellow eyes; it even closed in some distance between it and Alex at one point, making West increasingly uncomfortable. In time, the male tomb raider made it to the engraving. Eyeing the demon for another moment, he then turned his attention toward Lara. An amused expression played on her face.

"You'd think this was dangerous or something," she chuckled. Alex was not impressed.

"You know... the things I do for you," he said as he handed her the Amulet.

Lara winked at him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the circle. He was apprehensive for a second, but he knew that Lara would never put him in any _real_ danger. Now both Tomb Raiders received venomous stares from the chthonic beast. Its nostrils flared and the red wisps of which it was composed swirled rapidly.

Swallowing hard, Lara faced Alex. Without a word, they both knew what they must do. West reached out to his female comrade and grabbed her shoulder in warm recognition.

"I can't believe I'm about to let you do this," he said, scolding himself. "I just hope everything turns out okay."

Lara put on one of her trademark smirks. "You worry too much, West. Everything will be fine." She paused and raised an elegant eyebrow.

"You ready?"

Alex patted the gun on his hip. "On your lead."

"Okay then," Croft said. "Let's do this."

Then faster than anyone could react, both Tomb Raiders ran from the engraving and past the demon. Racing for their lives, they hoped that their plan would work.

As fast as she could, Lara ran toward the opposite end of the chamber; she could hear the monster's roars echo in her mind. She only hoped that Alex was up for this. She _knew_ that this plan of hers could get them both killed. And what then? How would the beast be able to get _out_ of the chamber?

But the answer was simple: it would merely feed off of Lara and Alex to achieve its full strength. One problem solved, Lara spun around and watched Alex's progress as he ran in her direction, but more toward the left of the room. He would need to conserve his strength if they wanted this to work.

Quickly, Lara shimmied up a column, using the cracks as minimal footholds. This particular column could no longer be used as a support for the room, for the top had been blown off due to one of the violent tremors that occurred earlier. It was perfect for Lara's plan. Perching herself on the top of the pillar, Lara un-holstered her weapons and aimed at the column across from her and next to Alex. Pulling the trigger, she was rewarded with the sounds of debris falling to the floor. Soon, she had unloaded both clips and needed to reload. Checking West's progress, she took no time in destroying the top of the opposite column.

After a few precious minutes, Lara had succeeded in tearing apart the section of the column that connected to the ceiling. Now her objective was to take a decent chunk out of the bottom so it would fall over. Reloading her pistols, Croft made a motion to crack her neck. She fired.

Alex West prayed to God that Lara would hurry. The distinct cracks of bullets filled his ears, but he paid no attention- there was a demon chasing after him! He couldn't seek the refuge of the engraving again because he would be trapped; the whole plan would fail. He had to rely on Lara and her marksmanship. In this plan, he was the bait.

"ALEX!"

That was his cue. Spinning around, West slid between the beast's legs and quickly got to his feet. He slowed his pace a bit and made sure that it was following him. Then the pillar began to sway. The demon was ten feet from it. Alex held his breath. The column tipped over and collided with the one that Lara was crouched on top of. It laid diagonal across the room, making a triangle with the floor.

The demon appeared to be laughing, but the pillar wasn't meant to land on him. This, the beast didn't know. West felt his skin crawl as the red wisps phased through the fallen pillar; it paused as it finished phasing. Five feet from Alex, it roared in a mix of wrath and joy. Victory was upon it.

West felt his mind scream at him, but he had to stay in that spot. Glancing at the top of the still erect column, West watched as Lara held the Pacific Amulet tightly in her hand; without a moment's hesitation, she walked to the edge of the fallen pillar and slid downward.

From behind the demon, Lara slid down the column, her boots making barely a sound as she did so. Readying the Amulet, she held it in both hands. Anyone else would be trembling, but Lara knew what was at stake. Not just her life, but Alex's life, Bryce's life... the world. Everything lied on her shoulders. There was _no_ room for error. As she approached the beast, she leapt from the column and forced the thick chain around its neck. Tumbling to the floor, Croft rolled away and drew her pistols. Soon after, a deafening screech filled her ears.

This was the moment of truth. If her plan worked, everything would be all right.

If it didn't, however, she just might have placed the world in terrible danger.


	27. Each Outcome Unveils a Price

*A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't been updating! I really am! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

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Nothing happened. As Lara looked on, her eyes darted across her adversary, trying to make the slightest connection of victory. But none could be found. Could she have just damned the world indefinitely? What was to happen now that the amulet lay lamely on the demon's neck? But Lara was too smart for that. Before she even knew what she was doing, her hand flew to her boot and snatched a small dagger. In seconds, it flashed a brilliant silver and flew in front of the Tomb Raider, directly for the monster that threatened the fate of the world.

Connection.

A howl of pain reached the survivors' ears as contact was made by the knife that Lara had thrown. The Pacific Amulet made the beast tangible! But for how long and for what reason? These were new factors to consider. Could the demon now be killed, and the world spared? With newfound hope, Croft un-holstered her weapons and cracked her neck. She knew that only one of them was getting out alive. And that one would be _her_.

Pistols blaring, pyres burning, demon screaming, the battle commenced. But a huge change had taken place- the beast was on the defensive.

_Can it be killed so simply?_ Lara thought. _Can we destroy the amulet?_

Carefully, the Tomb Raider aimed for the chain that held the circular artifact. Pulling the trigger, she watched as the bullet sailed through the air and hit her mark dead on.

The beast's howling slowed somewhat and the color of its body darkened. Lara now knew the answer to her question.

"West!" She yelled. "Don't shoot the amulet, it will only make it stronger!"

Her comrade nodded nervously. Now the weight on his shoulders was even heavier. How did Lara deal with this?

Suddenly, a tremendous blow sent Alex hurtling through the air. _SMASH!_ His body collided with the thick stone wall behind him. All he could feel was agony and something was coming closer to where he lay...

The beast turned from Lara's fire and took great steps in the opposite direction; Croft kept firing, watching as each bullet sank deeper into the demon's so-called flesh. But where was it heading? Hastily, Lara's eyes followed its path; it led to Alex.

"No!" Lara screamed. A new wave of energy hit her and she found herself sprinting toward the monster. Its back still turned toward her, she leapt onto it, reaching into her boot for another dagger. Fumbling only for a minute, the tomb raider freed her metallic weapon and plunged it into the beast's neck. She twisted with all her might and drove it deeper, but it still advanced on Alex. Tears began to blind her. How was she to stop this?

_Physical attack does no good, _Lara thought desperately_. Then how can it be destroyed?_

Just then, a glimmer of realization caught Croft's attention. There, just a small distance away was the engraving, its borders shining in the firelight. The demon had been apprehensive to step into the circle before. Could it be that it was afraid instead of unable?

Violently pulling the blade from her enemy's neck, Lara jumped over the beast's head and grabbed Alex under the arms. Hurriedly, she raced toward the engraving, the demon trailing behind her. It was so close, she could feel its hot breath on the back of her neck. The red wisps that tangled inside of it, she could see in her peripheral vision. Her ears picked up the haunting sound of the Pacific Amulet as the chain clattered on its captive's neck. Alex's weight slowed Lara down, but there was no way in hell that she was stopping. Failure was _not_ an option.

Finally, she was upon the circular configuration; it gleamed brighter than before, but not as result of the fire, but from the closeness of the demon. The engraving was robbed and it wanted back what was stolen.

With all her strength, Lara threw West over the circle, careful that neither of them had body parts inside of it. She spun around and faced the monster, its eyes searching hers intently. The tomb raider felt an aching pain in her chest, something like a hot knife being thrust into her body. Unable to help herself, Croft found herself on her knees, clutching at her heart in anguish. But how was this? It wasn't touching her!

This was it; Lara could do no more. She had defended the world from evil countless times and this particular event would claim her own life. Such a cruel injustice. No matter how she wanted to get to her feet, she couldn't. Her strength fettered underneath the invisible weight that encumbered her; everything was lost. Everything was in vain. Croft prayed for one last miracle.

Suddenly, a loud shriek sounded in front of her; her strength was back and her head immediately snapped up to catch what had just happened. The demon's insides swirled dangerously as it arched its back in pain. Lara followed her eyes and saw that the beast's legs were broken, shattered into multiple pieces. It wavered in front of her, threatening to fall directly upon her. Eyes wide, Croft rolled out of the way as her enemy fell to its knees, just as she had moments before. Behind it, stood Bryce.

A smile appeared on Lara's lips as she gazed at her exhausted tech. His eyelids grew heavier as each drop of blood ran down his face; his hair was messier than usual. His breathing was hard, but he did not gasp. Slowly, he fell to the ground.

"Bryce!" Lara cried. She ran to his side and turned him onto his back. But he didn't reply. His lips barely trembled. Lara could do nothing but watch her friend slip from her grasp into darkness.

"No," she whispered. "Don't do this. Come on, Bryce, you'll make it. Please don't die." But his body fell limp.

"No!"

Croft clenched her fists and rose to her feet. She turned her attention toward the demon on the floor and furiously kicked at its broken legs, each blow moving it slightly forward. Every ounce of hate and loathing poured from her body as she resumed her attacks. On Lara's fourth kick, however, the ground around her began to shake. This quake was unlike the others; this time, the ground beneath her began to fall apart. Lara's tear stained face turned toward the engraving on the floor. Unknowingly, her kicks had nudged the demon closer and closer to the circle until finally, the very top of its head broke one of the fine, golden lines.

_Flash!_

Dark red light leapt from the ground; magnetically, it grasped the demon's head and pulled it closer, ever so slowly. As each new inch entered the circle, more of the floor fell away; it was like a timer. Frantically, Lara searched for a way out, her lungs waiting for a breath of fresh air to enter the dank chamber. The door from which they entered was sealed shut and the surrounding rocks hardly budged as the quake continued to tear apart the golden chamber.

"Oh no... West..." Lara breathed as she remembered her comrade on the opposite side of the circle. Leaving Bryce only for a moment, she found her way safely to the other side and locked her hands underneath Alex's arms. Down the few steps, she dragged him to where her other friend lay... dead or alive, she did not know.

"Are there any survivors!" The Tomb Raider called. Listening intently, she heard three separate moans come from different end of the chamber.

"Follow my voice!" She instructed. "We're going to find a way out of here!"

In a daze, Croft observed the demon inch closer to the engraving. Now, not only was the floor giving way, but the ceiling began to crumble. This was what Lara was waiting for. Turning to the other survivors, Lara spoke to them hastily:

"Remembering our journey into the chamber, I deduce that fresh air can be no more than thirty feet up. But that is from the floor. If the ceiling was to break away in the right spot, we could possibly see sunlight and escape. Now, I want everyone to aim their fire at that mark right there."

Lara pointed to a specific spot high above them all. Each man nodded and everyone began to fire.

In no more than two minutes, debris began to collect on the floor, some falling into the unknown abyss that was beginning to claim the entire chamber. Each man and Lara continued to fire, their very hopes and dreams wrapped around each bullet casing. As if their prayers had been answered, a ray of sunshine spilled through the hole they had just made.

"Quickly!" Lara exclaimed and pointed to two of the survivors. "I want you two to go first and carry these two men here. Be careful!"

One of Vladimir's former cronies threw his grappling hook above him and let it grab hold of firm ground. Throwing Alex over his shoulder, the man in black climbed toward the hole.

Lara watched with an awaiting smile; she knew that she must save her emotions of victory until after they had surely won. Now four men were out, including Alex and Bryce. Only she and one man remained.

"All right, you head up and I'll go up after you. Hurry now!"

But the man didn't move. Amidst the falling debris and collapsing floor, he stood in front of Lara, a black mask hiding his face. Lara sensed a confrontation was about to occur that would prohibit her from surviving. But _nothing_ would stop her from climbing out of this hellhole.

"Move, soldier," Lara said firmly. But the man started to laugh; he removed a hand from behind his back and revealed a long blade.

"You're so clever, Lady Croft. But that won't save you when you're dead!" He lunged toward her only to be flipped over her back. His entire body now hung over into the darkness; the only thing that stopped him from falling was his grip on Lara's wrist. The blade that he used now lay next to Lara; she picked it up and inspected it.

"I don't have time for this," she spat. And in one fluid motion, she sliced the blade across her assailant's wrist, detaching it from its grip and the rest of its body. The solider in black screamed as he fell into the unknown.

Shaking the hand off that still held onto her wrist, Lara ran to the wall, that ensured her escape, and scaled the rope. Below her, the demon's body was nearly completely consumed by the mysterious engraving. Sliding on her stomach, the Tomb Raider finally breathed fresh air, untainted by years of confinement. She collapsed in exhaustion as the hole that she had just climbed through crumbled, never to be opened again.

But her body wouldn't allow her to rest, nor would it let her be at peace. Breathing hard, she rejoined the rest of the survivors and knelt between Alex and Bryce. Silent tears traveled down her flushed cheeks. With one hand upon each of her friends' faces, Lara Croft cried.

"Lady Croft, we have a helicopter waiting."

Lara acknowledged the voice and wordlessly followed, making sure that Alex and Bryce were picked up and taken care of. Even on the helicopter, she did not leave their sides. The other survivors urged her to rest, but she just couldn't. Not until she knew they were all right.

"Miss Croft, you're bleeding!"

The tomb raider looked down at her shirt and noticed that it was soaked with blood. Her hands were cut up; slashes in her pants revealed large gashes in her legs. Nausea washed over Lara and her head seemed to float above her. Only now did she feel the effects of blood loss. Clutching the wound in her abdomen, Croft unwillingly lost consciousness. 


	28. Innocence, Life, Salvation, & Energy

*A/N: Please forgive me, my italics weren't working...  
  
_______  
  
"What is her condition?"  
  
"Stable, sir."  
  
"Good."  
  
Voices filled Lara's throbbing head as her still body became aware of her new surroundings. The foreign tones sounded much farther away than they actually were; Lara thought as if she were in a dream. But this was no dream.  
  
"Mmmph..." The Tomb Raider moaned as one eyelid slid open. Instantly, she noticed that she was not confined to her own bed, but a hospital bed in a large room. Her attention shifted to the three doctors that hovered about her.  
  
"There she is, sir! She's alive at last."  
  
A friendly smile greeted Lara as both of her eyes opened; she quickly winced in pain as she tried to raise herself from the scratchy material of the white hospital sheets.  
  
"Now, now, Ms. Croft. Don't try to go anywhere. You've sustained a number of injuries and we've been worried sick that you weren't going to make it. Lost a lot of blood, you did."  
  
Still groggy, Croft squinted to refocus her vision. Almost as if new memories washed upon her like a sudden, violent current, Lara's eyes flashed open and she tried to ignore the burning sensations all over her body.  
  
"Where are my friends?" She said, trying to stay calm. But all serenity was lost when the doctors exchanged apprehensive looks.  
  
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Lara demanded, her wounds threatening to murder her on the spot if she didn't settle down. One doctor had the balls to utter an answer the Tomb Raider did not ask for:  
  
"You need to rest, Lady Croft. Don't worry about your friends, they will be here when you're well and good."  
  
Lara sneered, "How dare you! I asked you a question! Tell me where they are... now."  
  
The male doctor that had voiced his mind just a moment ago tried to retaliate, but a colleague of his put her arm up and stopped him. With a warning glare toward her colleague, she now turned her attention toward Lara.  
  
"I'm not one to usually go against authority, Lady Croft, but I'm afraid that now is the best time for you to see your friends. Keep in mind that one of them..." the female doctor cut off.  
  
"What?" Lara asked. "What happened!"  
  
The doctor choked on her words, but resumed nonetheless:  
  
"One of your friends is in a serious condition. We don't know if he's going to make it."  
  
Lara's face could do nothing but fall. Her full lips had not the strength to frown nor tremble; she was simply under the influence of fear and anticipation. What the doctor was talking about, Lara was not sure. But she knew that soon, she would find out.  
  
Quickly, the female doctor removed the IV from Lara's wrist and bandaged it up tightly. Making sure that Lara wasn't going to fall, she lent Lara her arm.  
  
"Please, Lady Croft, you are not well. I'm doing this only so you will return to your bed after you have seen the condition of your friends. Please don't make a fuss."  
  
Disgust approached Lara's lips. "I appreciate what you're doing, Doctor, but my emotions do not reside beneath your reign."  
  
Silently, the woman nodded and led Lara, bruised and battered, down the hall where Alex and Bryce were waiting.  
  
It seemed like an eternity before Croft reached their destination. Tope walls were all that she saw; tope on tope on tope as she walked. Nothing could have been more boring. It was like a bad lead into the climax of a terrible movie. But Lara would not be disappointed with this outcome; it would not be boring in any way imaginable. She turned the knob on the door and entered.  
  
In the new room, Alex sat on his white hospital bed, head in his hands. His hair was mussed and his complexion, pale. As fast as she could, Lara hobbled over to her comrade and climbed onto his bed and sat next to him.  
  
"Alex," she called softly, "look at me."  
  
She wished she hadn't asked. When West's eyes appeared through the cracks in his fingers, Lara gasped and placed a quick hand to her lips. Alex's eyes were bloodshot, yet the coloration was unnatural for any human being. What this meant, Lara did not know.  
  
"The doctors say they don't know what's wrong," he confessed sadly. "They sting so bad, Lara... and I can't feel my legs. The docs said they were fractured in three different spots and my arm is broken," he said, showing her his cast. Lara's features softened as she reached out for Alex. Carefully, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck; secretly she hoped that everything was going to be all right.  
  
"Bones mend," she said optimistically. "Bruises fade... and you're still alive, aren't you? Let's thank God for that."  
  
But Alex merely sobbed more. "I think you'll have one less thing to thank God for in a minute."  
  
"What do you mean?" Lara inquired carefully. She watched the expression on West's face sink even more. His heartbeat was rapid and his cries only grew louder. A mix of internal and external pain claimed him as he tried to speak:  
  
"It's Bryce, Lara..." he whispered. "...they don't think he'll make it."  
  
Sharply, the tomb raider's head snapped in the direction of another hospital bed, this one, deathly quiet. Suddenly, Lara was very afraid of what she might find in that bed. Would it be her friend, her tech, Bryce? Or would there merely be a lifeless corpse waiting to make her acquaintance?  
  
Cautiously, slowly, Croft inched off of Alex's bed and neared the still figure, that was Bryce. His body seemed so diminished underneath the pale sheets that draped limply over him. It was only when she was completely over him when Lara took in his complete status. The tears were simply too much.  
  
There he lied, Bryce, her faithful friend, so unjustly wrapped in plain sheets in an unadorned room with ordinary people in such a crude fashion. This was no way for a hero to be laid; this would not do at all. Lara's breathing started to intensify.  
  
Bryce.  
  
He had saved them all at the mansion with Simon. Without him, none of them would be alive. He had found the information on the Pacific Amulet. Without a complaint, he traveled thousands of miles from England to Tuvalu and shared in the tremendous burden of the Amulet. He had saved her life when the beast bored down on her, rendering her helpless. Bryce had always been there... and now he was dying.  
  
How do you save someone so many times... and then die yourself?  
  
It wasn't right. And it wasn't fair.  
  
Lara became angry, so angry that she began to smack her fists down upon the tech himself.  
  
"No! I told you not to leave! I told you not to die, and look what you're doing. Don't do this, Bryce. I haven't recognized all that you've done for us, and I'm sorry. Just don't leave us..."  
  
Smash! Smash!  
  
Beep... Beep... Beep...  
  
"Wha-...?"  
  
Suddenly, Bryce's heart monitor went from a steady pace to inhumanly erratic. His body began to convulse, causing him to lurch violently into the air. It was uncontrollable. The nurses and doctors ran in, but no one could stop it. Some spasms left him flying three feet into the air. If Lara were anyone else, she would have blamed herself for causing the sudden convulsions. But Lara Croft knew better than that.  
  
Hurriedly, she ran back to her room, wincing in pain with every step. Slamming into the door of her hospital room, she snatched her backpack off of a table and sprinted back toward Bryce and Alex's room.  
  
"Lara!" West yelled, watching her plunge her hand into her bag. "What are you doing?"  
  
In a split second, Lara's hand emerged from her pack with a single .30 caliber. Alex's eyes widened in horror; he bit his tongue. It was all he could do to keep from shouting out and telling her to stop. But Croft was on to something; she never produced a gun without reason.  
  
Digging through the crowd of doctors, Lara pushed them all away and vaulted onto Bryce's bed. Straddling over him, she could feel the many hands of the nurses pulling her away. Numerous shouts, accusing her of being insane, floated into her ears. But there was no time for games! Bryce needed to be shot... she needed to end his pain...  
  
"Get off!" Lara shouted, sending two orderlies and three nurses flying across the room. Two doctors followed suit, skidding across the floor on their rear-ends. Shouts were directed toward her, but the barrel of the gun lowered and directly aimed for Bryce's heart.  
  
A single tear slid down Lara's flushed cheek. And then she pulled the trigger.  
  
BANG!  
  
Lara Croft held her breath as she released her hold on her weapon. She was now covered in blood, spatters of dark crimson claiming her face, hands, and clothing. Like a plague, the white sheets that she and Bryce were on, were overcome with red liquid; he bled until it soaked every fiber of the bed, until it overflowed onto the floor and traversed to every corner of the room. Still, the crimson puddle expanded, stretching its nonexistent arms to anywhere that they could reach.  
  
It slid casually underneath the wooden door.  
  
It flowed deeper and darker across the gray-flecked tile of the hospital floors.  
  
Traveled underneath the nurses' desks.  
  
Soaked into the drains in the bathrooms.  
  
The lifeless entity did not stop when it reached the sliding glass doors to the outside world; it merely cascaded on top of the glass, creeping underneath and through the cracks, onto the pavement, into the parking lot.  
  
Deeper and darker.  
  
When every last sight of the floor had diminished, and all that anyone could see was blood...  
  
It disappeared.  
  
And in the room that Lara, Alex, and Bryce were in, Bryce's eyes fluttered open triumphantly. His lungs desperately craved the oxygen around him, and he took several deep breaths through his mouth. The blood, splattered across Lara, was gone. The bullet wound through Bryce's heart... gone.  
  
Every employee from the hospital was frozen with shock, but the Tomb Raider and her friends erupted into joyous laughter.  
  
"Bryce! You're alive!" Screamed Alex in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah," the tech said, thinking for a moment, "I am!" Then he gave Lara a reproachful look.  
  
"That's the second time you've shot me," he said sternly, but then smiled with a boyish grin. "And I'm never going to forget it."  
  
About to explode, Lara fell on top of Bryce and hugged him roughly. She was so happy that nothing could compare to what she was feeling. No words could man create and have them equal to the rapture that she was experiencing.  
  
"But how?" Alex questioned. "Why?"  
  
Lara released Bryce and sat back up. "I can't believe that I didn't realize this earlier! Just when Bryce started to react to my hitting him, it dawned on me... It was the same thing in the chamber when the demon attacked me mentally.  
  
"See, a demonic entity isn't created to perform physical attacks, so what other way is it to fight? Mentally. Given this information, it dawned on me that it could also possess people. Devouring Vladimir's body not only gave it substance, but it gave it the mind as well. The body was merely a way for it to have an even higher hand up on us humans.  
  
"So when we saw the body of the demon being sucked into the engraving, the demon wasn't really there. It transferred to... It transferred to a soldier that tried to kill me before I could escape! That was why he wouldn't climb the rope... And then it must have possessed Bryce in hopes to avenge itself. But Bryce, unfortunately, was handicapped, therefore, rendering the demon helpless until its host recovered.  
  
"It got weary of waiting, so it turned on Bryce and caused the convulsions, hoping to kill him off so that he could enter someone else. But it was caught in the act, thankfully. And now Bryce is safe... and alive."  
  
The three tremendously wounded friends exchanged smiles as the doctors and nurses came back into the room. Later that same day, the trio were kicked out and sent home due to... undisclosed reasons.  
  
_________  
  
Alone, Lara sat in her study, fire in the hearth and almost-finished novel laying in her lap. She smiled to herself as she recounted the adventures that she had with her friends. The Amulet of Ilse was more trouble than it was worth.  
  
How many lives were taken to destroy that artifact?  
  
Many more than needed to be.  
  
But through it all, everything had worked out to a superlative ending, with a demon vanquished, two priceless artifacts destroyed, and a friendship to never be broken.  
  
Death had reared its ugly head, but they had conquered it numerous times. And whenever defeat, sorrow, agony, or even death dared to show its face around the Croft Manor again...  
  
Lara, Alex, Bryce, Hillary, and Simon would all be waiting.  
  
.  
  
THE END  
  
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*A/N: Thank you all SO MUCH for reading and reviewing! I can't believe this story is finally over! Oh no, yes I can! Haha! Exactly One Year Today, I started this story, (12-26-03) and now it is finished! I sincerely hope that everyone enjoyed it! And hey, if you want, you can read my other fic that has Lara in it... The Taste of Life. She'll be a major character in that fic as well. Anyway, thanks to everyone and have a happy New Year! 


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